Shadowed Moon
by NikS1nnoman
Summary: Six hundred and forty-four years ago something happened that he couldn't explain. And now it was coming back to haunt him. Even centuries old vampires can be caught off guard occasionally. **This is a crossover with The Dark Series. Anything that can be recognised does not belong to me. Rated M to be safe.**
1. Chapter 1

**I am an ESL teacher who also happens to have a History Degree and a love for The Originals and The Dark Series. Anything that is familiar is not mine.**

* * *

1369

The ground trembled and lightning split the sky. Hail poured down in intermittent intervals looking at times like it was the colour of blood. It wasn't, merely reflecting the blood moon in the sky. The ground shook again, and despite the strength in his stance his immortality granted him, Elijah found himself stumbling slightly, the force of the shockwave nearly sending him to his knees. Because it was a shockwave, of that he was certain. And it originated just on the other side of the mountain he was on.

With a burst of speed he wasn't even aware of using anymore Elijah was over the crest of the mountain and was standing in…a warzone. Trees were levelled, craters were feet deep in the earth and blood was splattered everywhere. He walked through the carnage slowly, watching with wide eyes as some of the blood was absorbed by the ground. A little further along he came across a pile of ash, being blown away in the wind. It left behind a faint outline, and as he crouched down Elijah saw it was in the shape of a body. A human body.

The snap of a twig had his head shooting up; the feeling of someone watching him coming across almost instantly. He cast his eyes around and…there, behind a tree. Or rather the remains of a tree. Elijah sped over to where he saw the shadowy figure and found…nothing. Frowning ever so slightly he turned around again, stretching his senses. He picked up the soft sound of liquid falling, and an even softer, irregular thumping noise that was getting fainter and fainter.

He sped silently towards the two sounds, anxiety growing in his chest. Something that made his brain stutter briefly. Anxiety? Elijah stopped suddenly as the soft thumping faded away, leaving him feeling oddly bereft. Something glinted on the ground and he knelt down, gently moving leaved and twigs aside and uncovered…a necklace. It was a crescent moon, silver with intricate knot work and hanging from the top of it was a beautiful ice blue gem.

He stood up slowly, carefully cupping the jewel in his hand, his gaze wandering around. Everything around him was completely destroyed, except for the one patch where the necklace had been lying. On that spot, in an outline that matched the jewel and the chain it was suspended on, was lush green grass and tiny spring flowers.

A chill ran down Elijah's spine and he turned around slowly, fully expecting to be looking at someone.

But no one was there.

* * *

1546

Kosice.

The city had barely changed since the last time Elijah was in this part of the world. Absently he ran a finger over the pendant hanging around his neck. It was only a few miles from this city that he had found the necklace, nearly two hundred years before. And for some reason, completely unknown to him, he had kept it with him that whole time. It was only his sister Rebekah who had noticed, and for once she had kept quiet about it.

His hand dropped to curl around the railing and he looked out across the city. Feeling abruptly restless Elijah vaulted over the railing and began to walk down the street. The sun had only just set and the streets still retained its warmth. But the hustle of the city was starting to feel oppressive so he waited until the street was clear and put on a burst of speed, running out of the city and into the forest. Suddenly he could breathe again. The woods were silent, the only noise, barely too faint even for him to hear, was the wind. Elijah closed his eyes and simply walked. No speed, no vampire senses, he just let his feet guide the way.

For some reason he could feel his chest tightening slowly, almost as if he was…grieving. Which was not possible, he had no reason to be grieving. A howl split the air and his eyes flew open suddenly. The wolf was close, as was the second, third. Oh great. A wolf pack. He was deeper in the forests than he had initially realised. Not that he wouldn't be able to take down the pack; he just…didn't think he could. The wolves sounded sad. Like they were mourning. And then there was another sound, voices murmuring.

The wind picked up suddenly around him and the sky seemed to come alive with swirling clouds, rumbles of thunder and cracks of lightning. Elijah crested the hill he had been climbing and could have sworn he had been thrown back a hundred and seventy-seven years. The other side of the hill was covered in…well there wasn't much left. It was just a crater, blasted into the ground. The destruction went on and on. The only thing that was different this time was the figure standing around in a loose circle. Even as he watched, the figures almost seemed to melt away until he was the only one left, asking himself if he had even seen anyone there in the first place.

Elijah left Kosice three days later, with no explanation for what had happened on the hillside, or for the lingering sense that something was missing. It was a feeling that would stay with him, hovering on the edge of his consciousness, for the next four hundred and sixty seven years.

* * *

2013

There was the time old saying that New York never slept. The same could be said for New Orleans. Even now, at 3 o'clock in the morning, parties were still in full swing and people were cruising along the streets. As the years progressed the city had expanded, especially the French Quarter. And with that expansion came larger, wilder parties which, despite the fact that it was nearing two in the morning, showed no signs of slowing down. The streets were still packed with people partying, either spilling out of the numerous clubs and pubs that lined the streets, or taking part in the numerous street parades and parties that seemed to encompass the entire Quarter. Everywhere he turned, Elijah saw humans throwing caution to the wind and having the time of their lives.

This was what he and his family had been working towards all those years ago. Even now as he walked down the street Elijah could see the results of so many years hard work. Right out in the open vampires, witches and werewolves were mixing with the humans, and for once there was no bloodshed. Everyone seemed just that little bit more relaxed and co-operative since the fall of the Mikaelson parents and their crazy aunt Dahlia. It had seemed like a very long time since there had been a cause for celebration but with the latest threat to their family destroyed, it seemed like the perfect time to hold a celebration in the compound.

Which was why Elijah was out walking the streets, instead of being in the family compound. The threat had been against his niece Hope, and with that threat vanquished, her parents deserved to spend all the time they could with her, to focus only on her and not on any remaining…issues. Like the one that currently had Elijah estranged from Niklaus. He would not be able to forgive his brother for some time after he compelled Gia to kill herself and then stab him with that blasted knife of Papa Tunde, just as he knew Klaus would not forgive him for choosing to 'side' with Freya over the whole Dahlia incident and stabbing Klaus in the chest with Kol's dagger. No, it was best to leave the hornet's nest alone for one night. All of their issues would be addressed in time. They always were.

Lost in thought Elijah didn't see the imminent collision until it was too late. It was bound to happen, with the amount of people in the street. The crowd surged suddenly and a figure stumbled into him. He automatically reached out to steady her, for the wealth of black hair was enough to convince him she was a woman, his hands resting gently on her elbows whilst hers were braced against his chest. He heard her swallow slightly before tilting her head slightly to look up at him. Elijah caught a glimpse of large eyes swimming with emotion, but was unable to take anything more in before she dropped her gaze again.

"Sorry, sir." She tore herself away from his grasp and disappeared back into the throng of people around them, leaving him standing alone in the crowd. But Elijah had forgotten all about those pressed in around him. Indeed, everything seemed to melt away from his mind entirely; all that was left was the feel of the woman against his hands, the smell of her hair as it was buffeted by the breeze, the shape of her eyes, although for some reason he had been unable to tell what was going on behind those eyes, or even their colour. All he knew was that they were unique. The soft sound of her voice felt like what he imagined a punch to the gut would feel. Granted it had been more of a whisper than anything else, but it caught his attention nonetheless. He realised suddenly that he was still standing on the sidewalk, one hand on his chest, resting just below the knot of his tie where, and only he and Rebekah were aware of it, a precious jewel he had stumbled across centuries ago.

The woman's voice echoed in his mind again and he suddenly found memories from years ago resurfacing. Acres of destruction, songs of mourning, a profound sense of loss. For four hundred and sixty-seven years there had been something…missing. Since he had left Kosice for the second time. He had also felt it a hundred and seventy-seven years prior to that, but the grief, a completely unexplained feeling, had been nearly overwhelming in the sixteenth century. And yet now he felt…not complete. No that wasn't the right word at all. But that gaping, empty space had suddenly been filled. Not entirely, there was still something missing.

Elijah's hand dropped and his head rose up, eyes scanning the crowds surrounding him on all sides. He needed to find that woman. She held answers; answers that Elijah had been seeking, albeit unconsciously, for nearly five hundred years. He also had her scent, could feel it swirling around him as he started to move in the direction she had taken. This was indeed a mystery; she was no vampire because he had felt her pulse, and the rush of blood pumping through her body when he held her. So why was her mere presence stirring memories that lived in the deepest recesses of his mind? This was something he needed to find out. And fast.


	2. Chapter 2

**37 views for the first chapter, was not expected that. May not sound like a lot to some people, but to me it is so thank you. A big thank you to Tysia96 for following this story and a** **huge ****thank you to MeliaAlexander for following** **and ****adding this story as a favourite. Thank you, thank you, thank you.**

 **Translations are at the end of the chapter. Not as long as I had intended, but it seemed like the best place to end it.**

* * *

Chapter Two

It had been a bad idea, coming here. Although in all honesty it wasn't exactly a conscious decision. All she had known, upon waking, was that she needed to get out of the mountains. Away from her homeland, and as far away from her people as possible. They meant well, she knew they did; they were worried about her. Especially her…brothers. The word still felt weird, even now. She knew they were her family, hell she could practically see the bond the four…sorry six of them held. She kept forgetting that she had another brother and a sister; the two had been thought lost so long ago and she couldn't remember having any interaction with them. Granted she couldn't remember interacting with any of them, but her bond with the three older ones was certainly stronger.

And it made her uncomfortable. Very uncomfortable. They just wouldn't leave her alone. It made sense, after the vicious battle that resulted in kidnapping, torture, imprisonment and perceived murder that left her in the ground for close to half a millennium and had resulted in a complete and total wipe of her memory, she could understand why they were so protective of her. She just couldn't stand it anymore. So she fled. She waited until they were occupied with another matter; the discovery…sorry, re-discovery of others of their kind if she wasn't mistaken. It helped that her…family…had also scattered. She was known for disappearing into the ground for weeks at a time, and knew that if she set the safeguards _just_ right, no one would suspect she was gone.

She rose a night after she had gone to ground, something she had never done since she had been…found, and ran. And didn't stop running. Not until thousands of miles of both land and sea separated her from her family. And then she simply wandered, with no particular aim or destination in mind.

It was strange, because at times she felt almost desolate. For no reason. Her heart ached. True her whole body ached, constantly, but this was different. It came and went, with no warning and no explanation. But it didn't stop her roaming and eventually she found herself passing though deep swampland. It wasn't a mountain range, and the temperature was vastly different to what she was used to, but it had been untouched by humanity and was as close to her homeland as it could get. Minus of course the sweet, rich, almost pulsating soil. She would know, she'd spent enough time in it. So this swampland became her home and she spent many risings exploring it, becoming acquainted with every inch of it. She found a few human settlements but stayed well away from them, and the areas that were clearly marked as being home to wolf packs. She neither wanted or needed a wolf pack to become territorial or worse, friendly.

Unlike the rest of her people, she did not need regular sustenance to keep her going; a side effect of her…experiences. So roughly a month passed before she knew she needed to feed again, or face her body shutting down. Instead of going to the human settlements nestled in the swamp, she ventured further afield. The settlements were small and chances of her being discovered were great. On the edge of the swamp, fortunately far enough away from her resting places, was a sprawling human settlement. A city, her…brother had called them. A city meant lots of people. Enough that she would be able to find sustenance, and remain simply a face in the crowd. She scanned often, and was absolutely certain none of her kind was anywhere near the city. She felt confident that she was the only one within a hundred miles of this place.

Or so she thought.

* * *

Coming into the city had been a bad idea. She had known it would be nothing like what she was used to, and more than what she could ever imagine. But this…this was chaos. There were people everywhere. Everything was so light, so loud and no one seemed to be going anywhere. She knew she had to appear human at all times so she could only push through the crowds with the strength a human woman her size would have and that was hard enough. But she couldn't block anything out, and was subjected to every sound, smell and sight that she came across. She was completely overwhelmed. It was at that point she felt it, nothing more than a slither down her spine which could have merely been produced by a gust of cold air, but she knew it was so much more.

At one point she found herself stuck in a massive horde of people, physically unable to move forward or back. She was being crushed in on all sides; the smell of sweat and alcohol swirled around her and invaded her lungs and she could practically see the blood pumping through the veins in their necks. She felt her teeth lengthen slightly but clamped down on her hunger, forced her body back under control. It may have been a while but she wasn't a fledging. She would not lose control here. It was at that point she felt it, nothing more than a slither down her spine which could have merely been produced by a gust of cold air, but she knew it was so much more. Someone…or possibly some _thing,_ was stalking her.

There was a sudden surge in the crowd behind her and she was flung forward. It didn't matter that she was far stronger than all of the humans around her; fact was the crowd did not want her standing there and she had little say in the matter. Her feet slipped on the slippery, uneven ground and she fell against a body. She tensed automatically as she felt hands enclose around her arms, her breath stilling in her lungs. Her hands were resting on a chest. With a huge effort she managed to stamp down on the rising panic at the hands on her arms, trying to marshal her thoughts before looking up at the male in front of her. Short brown hair, an angular face and deep hazel brown eyes had her heart beat speed up. She dropped her gaze, swallowing harshly. The feeling of being followed sprung up again suddenly and she knew without a doubt that she needed to move _now_ or be destroyed.

"Sorry, sir." She tore herself out of the man's grasp and plunged headfirst into the crowd, terrified earlier by the sheer size of it but now using the masses of people to her advantage. She didn't yet know what it was that was tracking her, but she hoped beyond all hope that it wasn't a _Hän ku vie elidet_. She scanned often but couldn't pick up anything that might give an indication as to what was following her. She came across a quieter street, much smaller than the one she was on now and took a chance, ducking into it and running lightly down the cobbles. It opened up on a large, deserted square. Deserted because there were no drinking establishments here, so no innocent bystanders would be in the way of whatever was about to happen.

She started to cross the square when a body dropped down in front of her, dark eyes flashing in amusement and madness, thick muscles banded around his arms and chest, a thick pelt of dark hair covering his head and falling to brush against his shoulders. His clothing was rustic, stained and torn with blood and dirt, and mixed in with the smell of the swamp was the stench of death.

"Well well, you've finally come out to play little Carpathian."

Her skin prickled at his voice, and also at his words. He knew what she was. What, but apparently not who. But what was he? She scanned again but couldn't pick up any trace of energy coming off of him. Definitely not a vampire then; he would have attacked already, _and_ known exactly who she was (even if she wasn't so sure herself half the time). Not a human either; even if there were a handful of the species who knew her race existed they would have not been able to pull off that leap. Jaguar was also out of the question for she could not detect any sent of the wild cat on or around him. She would have also been able to sense if he was mage, given her past. No, he was none of those. Which left only one species… _o köd belső_.

Her breath hissed out between her clenched teeth as she stared at the smirking male in front of her. He was a wolf. But not a Lycan. "Werewolf." She spat at him, the rogue, and his grin widened, flourished with a little bow.

"Why yes little Carpathian. You sound surprised. I've known about you for a while now, never thought you'd pluck up the courage to come into the city. Desperate?"

She growled at him, her body sinking low into a crouch. Two of her…tormentors had been rogue werewolves, Lycans who had turned away from everything their society stood for. The fact that her memories from that time were still severely fragmented was a testament to how cruel they were. "What are you doing here? And where is your pack?"

The male scoffed at her, spitting onto the ground. "My pack? I killed my pack, years ago. Wiped them all out; the idiots deluded themselves into thinking they could live simple, peaceful lives. Didn't see what our rightful place was. Ruling the rest. That's why we were given these gifts, so why shouldn't we use them."

 _If anyone is deluded, it's him_ , she thought to herself as he carried on speaking. "As for why I'm here, that should be obvious. This land is crawling with supernaturals, and no one to lead them. the amount of wolves crawling around in the Bayou alone is enough for me to use to take control."

The breath stilled in her lungs at his words. _Supernaturals? Here? But that wasn't possible?_ Surely she would have picked up on anything that wasn't human. Unless she was damaged even more severely than she had initially thought. "It will never work, Rogue. Even if you did manage to fool them into following you, serving you, dying for you, you will never win."

The smirk was back, the male's eyes glinting in amusement and hunger. Her skin crawled in revulsion. "And why is that, little Carpathian?" He threw at her, his contempt for her race evident in his tone.

"Because you don't know who I am. You want to succeed, you're going to have to destroy me first."

The gauntlet had been thrown down, all that remained was to see if he was stupid enough to accept the challenge. That question was answered when he threw himself across the square at her. She anticipated the move however and launched herself to the side, neatly sidestepping his moving body and swung herself around so she was facing his back. She stretched out a hand and reached mentally for the earth. Tree roots the size of her wrist erupted from the cobbles and wrapped themselves around the Rogue's body. He snarled and tried batting them away, snapping them in half and sending splinters flying towards her but more roots wrapped around him, thickening to the size of her waist. Soon he was completely entrapped, unable to do anything except move his eyes and growl at her. She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Did you think it would be that easy to defeat me? You truly have no idea who I am, do you? Even amongst you wolves my name is whispered in fear."

"Do I look afraid, you bitch?" He snarled at her, blood stained spittle staining his chin as the roots tightened, constricting his chest and bursting blood vessels.

"You will be" was her reply. "Go on. Ask for my name."

Silence was her only answer and she smiled slightly. "Okay then. Well I'm sure you've heard of _The Dark One_ , Gregori Daratrazanoff. And then the twins, Lucien and Gabriel Daratrazanoff." She saw the Rogue swallow slightly at their names. "Well they are my younger brothers. I am Evangeline Daratrazanoff." She was rewarded with the sight of the male paling at her name. "So you have heard of me."

A cold smile touched her lips. "Did you know two of your kind was allowed at me for….thirty years I think it was in the end. And I was never able to reciprocate. Oh don't worry," she added when she saw the fear now pooling in his eyes, "I won't do to you what they did to me. Mainly because we don't have thirty years. I doubt we have thirty seconds before someone comes down that alley."

Without a whisper of sound she was suddenly standing in front of the Rogue, her mouth inches from his throat. "All I want is a peaceful, quiet life. But you had to go and ruin it, didn't you." She didn't wait for an answer before sinking her teeth deep into his throat, her teeth hitting his vein and draining the blood from his body. For a second she was tempted to drain him dry, but was unsure what that would do to her – if an unattached Carpathian killed by feeding they were damning their souls and would become _Hän ku vie elidet._ She hadn't heard of the same fate for unattached females, but then she was the only unattached female of her kind left. And even if it didn't happen to the other females, after what had happened to her a fatal feeding would probably lead to her damning what was left of her soul.

So seconds before his death she pulled away from him, letting his body fall limp against its bindings. She stepped out of the way and with a small flick of her wrist sent lightning flying at the tree roots. They quickly lit up with flames. Another spear was sent at straight at the Rogue, encasing his body completely in fire. She waited until there was nothing but ash left where the male had been before generating a small gust of wind to blow the remains away. Only then did she lift the casual shield she had hastily thrown around the square to stop anyone from wandering into the confrontation when the male had thrown himself at her, and made to leave. It was only then that she noticed she was bleeding from a dozen or so shallow cuts from the splinters that had been thrown at her earlier. With a sigh she sent herself seeking into her own body and quickly healed the cuts, cleaning her clothes at the same time. Only then did she leave the square to re-join the human crowds, with the intention of leaving the city as soon as she was possibly able to.

What Evangeline was unaware of however, was the pair of hazel eyes that followed her as she left the square. Hazel eyes that had witnessed the events in the square. Hazel eyes that behind which now held even more questions than they had barely an hour before hand.

* * *

Carpathian Translations:

 _Hän ku vie elidet_ \- Vampire

 _O köd belső_ – Darkness take it


	3. Chapter 3

**Only a brief glimpse of Elijah at the end of the last chapter, I do apologise. However, Evangeline's backstory needed to be told, and will be elaborated on in later chapters. These chapters also seem to be writing themselves at the minute so I'm not 100% sure as to where we are going. Fun eh?**

 **I will apologise for the ending of this chapter; those who make it that far will see what I mean. Hopefully it all makes sense.**

 **The next chapter may be posted a little later than I have originally planned; I am travelling from China to England tomorrow (yayy) and then travelling home at the start of next week so I may not have the chapter ready to post on Tuesday. I will however have it posted at** **some point** **next week, that is a promise.**

 **On with the show. Or story. Technically.**

* * *

Chapter Three

It was two nights later when Evangeline next rose. It was probably an unnecessary precaution; the rogue werewolf had indicated he was the only one of his kind here, but on the slim chance that he had been lying and there was someone to seek revenge for his demise, she didn't want to be found. So she had lain low (not literally, she had actually rested deeper in the earth than she normally did) for two nights before finally rising three evenings after her journey into the city.

It had definitely been a mistake, but not a complete failure. Had she not gone into the city chances are she would never had become aware of the rogue; he had been more than aware of her out here in the swamps. And that was a very uneasy thought; Evangeline realised just how lax she had become since leaving her homeland. She had allowed this new land to lull her into a false sense of security when she, out of everyone, should know there was no such thing as security. There was no such thing as safety. She would always have to be alert, be on her guard. Despite what some of her people had thought, she did not have a death wish. She wanted to live as much as the next person. That was one of the few thoughts that got her through all those years.

Evangeline forced her mind back on track before it could start wandering down paths better left forgotten, and focused on the new problem. For a problem it was, but how big she did not yet know. The rogue had hinted that he was in contact with werewolves out here in the swamp, and that was how he had become aware of her. From the sounds of it, he was trying to band them together and use them to overthrow the Lycan Council. If that happened, there was every possibility they could go after the Carpathians as well. She might have left their society, but Evangeline was still a Carpathian; one of the few female warriors, and she would protect all who needed it to her last breath and beyond.

Even though the rogue was gone there was still a chance he had had time to put a plan in motion. She needed to find these wolf packs and determine if they were a threat to her people and the Lycan communities. If they were, then they needed to be dealt with. All of this passed through her head as she rose from her resting place, mentally cleaning her body and clothing herself in tight fitting dark pants and a loose dark green shirt. This was covered with a hooded coat that hung down to her knees, brushing the tops of the boots that encased her legs and feet. She braided her hair as she walked so it wouldn't get caught up if this evening dissolved into a fight.

Hopefully it wouldn't.

She wasn't holding her breath.

* * *

Elijah was feeling…frustrated. That in itself wasn't anything new, not with Klaus for a sibling after all. No, it had been three days since he had first run into that mystery woman and he had not seen hide or hair of her since she had walked out of that courtyard and disappeared into the crowds again. He'd still had her scent though, and used that to track her path for a while. But he lost it in the City Park which was strange. It had been easy enough to track her through the crowded streets, but in the deserted park the trail ran cold. Literally. And so ever since he had been scouring the city, trying to find something, _anything_ , that would help him find this woman and give him the answers he was looking for. Exactly what the questions were, he wasn't sure at the moment, but he had the feeling he would know when the time was right.

This entire experience was baffling; he was never like this. Infatuated over someone, let alone a woman. That had never been his style, not even with Katherine. Yes, he could call her Katherine now. He had finally accepted that his Katerina, that sweet, innocent young girl he had met all those years ago was finally gone, that there was a very slim chance she would return. He couldn't wait around for that, hoping for her salvation any longer.

He found himself once again walking with a hand pressed to his chest, covering the necklace he wore. Elijah was finally convinced that this woman he was trying to find was somehow linked to this necklace, and to the events of 1369. This didn't make sense because he was convinced this woman was no vampire. Today he had been wandering the edges of the city, certain the woman had not returned to the Quarter. And it gave him a reason to not be there as well; his latest encounter with Klaus had not ended well. Not at all.

So not before the sun had begun to set Elijah found himself walking the outer paths of the Bayou, not particularly far from the werewolf settlements. With Hayley and Jackson living at the Compound their up-to-date knowledge of what was happening in the Bayou had greatly reduced. He was pretty sure this mystery woman wasn't connected to any of the wolf packs; he surely would have come across her by now if she was, but the Bayou was large, easy to disappear in and Elijah wandered if that was why his search was coming up empty. No one knew the Bayou like the Crescent Wolves, so that was where Elijah was headed.

By the time he reached the homes of the pack the sun had long been down and the moon painted an eerie glow through the trees. None of this phased Elijah of course, but he was aware of the sheer beauty of nature out here, away from the teeming city. There were only a couple of people moving around outside, although he could sense that more were in the structures, waiting for him to make a move. This evening however he was only after information, if they had any, and so made no move to approach them.

Eventually one of the men made his way over to Elijah, taking care to stand well back from him, just in case anything were to happen. This didn't bother Elijah in the slightest, if anything he was expecting it. These wolves hadn't had much luck when it came to dealing with vampires. Or witches for that matter. It took him a second to recall this particular wolf's name; Henry. He had been one of the handful who had helped in the evacuation of the children, months back.

"Good evening. I was wandering if you may help me out with something." Elijah was polite as always, as well as being deliberately vague.

Henry rocked back slightly on his feet. Despite the reputation that preceded him, Elijah Mikaelson was still a vamp, and it never hurt to be careful. Or in this case, cautious. "Yeah? What can't you do this time?" It was a vague reminder that his family had needed to rely on the wolves at one point to protect Hope from Dahlia.

Elijah let it slide. "I am trying to find someone. I was wandering if you had noticed any unfamiliar faces in the Bayou over the last few days."

Henry snorted. "Days? Don't you mean weeks? People have been coming in from all over."

Elijah frowned. This was not what he had been expecting to hear. "Explain."

Henry shot him a look. "'Bout three weeks ago some stranger rocks up. Says he's from Russia, and is looking to join a pack. Within a couple of days it was pretty clear he wasn't interested in simply joining, he wanted to lead. 'Course we have Jackson and Hayley, so told him to beat it. Next thing we know, he's setting up camp deeper in the Bayou and bringing in strangers from other packs. One of two of our boys had initially joined him till they heard what he was planning to do."

"Attack the city?" was Elijah's best guess. Were they never to get a moment's peace?

Henry shook his head. "No. He'd claimed that there were wolf packs over in Eastern Europe that were looking at expanding into America, and weren't interested in partnerships or integrating. Apparently they're a different type of wolf who believe they are superior to us and want to wipe us out." He snorted. "Most of us think it's a load of bull; if there _are_ other types of werewolf in the world, we would have heard about them before now."

Elijah nodded but didn't say anything. He wasn't sure if he was disturbed by this news or not. Okay it was good that they didn't appear to be targeting New Orleans; nor did they appear to be after his family which was a welcome relief. But the news that they did seem to have a target, and were apparently actively pursuing their downfall was…unsettling. Along with the hints that Henry had laid; there was a different type of werewolf on the planet. Elijah had lived for over a thousand years and had travelled the planet multiple times. He had wandered across all of the continents, and had visited each country at least once throughout his lifetime.

Never in his long years had Elijah come across a werewolf different to that standing in front of him now. Of course there was his brother Klaus, the Original Hybrid, but his wolf side still came from the same gene that Henry, Jackson and Hayley carried. If there was another species out there his family would be aware of it. Unknowingly his hand had brushed against the necklace again before he refocused his mind.

"As interesting as that is, it's not the reason I'm here." _But potentially something that needed to be looked into, at some point._ "I'm looking for one person, a woman. She hasn't been seen in the Quarter for three days now and I was wandering if anyone in your pack had run across her."

"Well like I said, there's been a lot of strangers around here in the last couple of weeks. What does she look like?"

"She's short, probably about a head shorter than you. Black hair, but there are some paler streaks in it. Dark eyes which appear to see far too much. And simple, yet expensive, clothing. I doubt that matches the description of anyone running around in this new pack."

Henry snorted. "Expensive clothing? Definitely not a wolf." He hesitated, glancing over his shoulder. Having realised that Elijah wasn't there to cause trouble some of the others in the pack had ventured outside, listening in on their conversation. They were now murmuring amongst themselves about the description of the woman. Elijah waited patiently. Eventually another male stepped up, one he was unfamiliar with.

"It's only someone I've seen at a distance. It was a few weeks ago when I was down near one of the human settlements, helping them out with some new building work. She was right on the edge of the settlement, no one else seemed to see her. She came out of nowhere and left just as quickly. I didn't think anything of it, until when I left later that night. I'd passed where she had been standing, and I swear to God, there were no tracks or footmarks to suggest anyone had been there. There was a faint scent; fresh earth, pine which I thought was strange, and some kind of herb, but nothing I've come across before. But your description matches her; the dark hair and the clothes. Like I said she was far away and it was dark but they were obviously well tailored, a bit like your suit."

Elijah nodded thoughtfully; the woman this male had claimed to see sounded a lot like his mystery woman. _His?_ Where had that come from? And the description of her scent matched what he had picked up in the Quarter. "Where is this settlement?" He knew it was a long shot and the woman was probably long gone, but there was no harm in looking.

"About six miles from here. It's three families that have lived in the Bayou for years; they rarely leave. But it's only about three miles further north that one of the new pack encampments is. It could be possible that this woman had gotten caught up with this pack. If that's true…" his voice trailed off, the unspoken part of his sentence hanging heavy in the air.

Elijah nodded slightly, his mind slipping away from the conversation. Somehow, and he wasn't sure how he knew it, he was convinced that she hadn't had a run in with this pack. But even as he stood there fingering the pendent under his shirt apprehension started to claw its way up from his belly. Something was going to happen, and it involved this woman and the new pack. "Thank you" he addressed both of the wolves, nodding his head once again at them before blurring away from them. He headed in the direction the male had indicated the human settlement lay, and the pack's encampment beyond that. He had a feeling that he would cross the woman's scent around that area. Hopefully before something happened.

* * *

Evangeline was closing in on the pack. It was difficult to pick them up for their energy signatures were not what she had been expecting at all. Although there were the remnants of wolves about them, it was very faint and they all but appeared human. Indeed she had come across this group before and had dismissed them as humans who had settled deep in the swamp. It was only when she scanned deeper that she found the traces of wolf amongst them, buried deep. It was another reminder of how lax she had become. She needed to work on that. Starting now.

She got rid of her shoes and let her feet sink deep into the ground, damp from recent rain. Instantly her connection to the earth increased, her senses magnifying to the point that it was almost overwhelming. Almost being the operative word; Evangeline had become an expert at compartmentalising. One part of her mind was monitoring the area immediately around her whilst another was stretching out to find this encampment. Once she had found it she immediately started scanning each person in the camp, trying to determine who was a wolf and who wasn't.

She soon found that every being in the camp was indeed a wolf. And not the sort of wolf she was used to, just as the rogue had said. This was unsettling. How had her people existed for as long as they had and not come across this before? Pressing deeper, yet still with a light feather touch so she wouldn't be detected, Evangeline looked further into their minds. They appeared to be aware of the Lycan community, but not exactly where they were located. Most of them were under the impression that the Lycans needed to be dealt with, but even then there was contention on how to deal with them. Some wanted them dead, others wanted to make some sort of alliance with them.

Evangeline sighed. This seemed to be getting more and more complicated. What she did know for certain however was that they were nowhere near ready to be confronting the Lycans, and that they were all waiting for their leader, the rogue, to return. There was uncertainty in the camp because he had not returned. Some were already drifting away, feeling that with their leader's disappearance the cause wasn't strong enough to remain. Others were questioning the man's sanity, and the rest were trying to decide what course of action to take next. Did they remain and wait for the rogue to return (not that any of them were calling him a rogue, they were all calling him Drake), or did they start moving out, heading to Russia in small groups like they had initially planned?

By the time she had gathered all of this information Evangeline was close to the encampment. She hadn't disguised herself, clouded her scent or changed her form, but had taken care to stay downwind and Mother Earth had covered her tracks. So none of the wolves knew she was there as she observed them from a distance. After scanning the minds of three of them she knew that there were thirty members in this encampment, and all thirty were present.

So it came as rather a large shock when a hand came down on her shoulder suddenly. Her entire body stiffened and, faster than the eye could see, her own hands came up and grabbed the strangers arm, flinging the body it was attached to over her shoulder and onto the ground in front of her. She knelt down on the person's chest, her dark eyes flashing dangerously. Her hair seemed to come alive, energy crackling through it and moving as though caught in a heavy wind. The air around the pair grew heavy and cold.

"Hello there." Words echoed softly and her mind sharpened suddenly, her dark eyes focusing on hazel ones. She blinked once, suddenly realising she had seen this person, this man before. He had been in the city. "I'm Elijah. And you are?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Firstly I have to apologise profusely for the delay in updating this story, all of my stories really. I'm still on holiday and just haven't been able to get on here to update anything. There may be a few more weeks of erratic updating before I settle back into the updating routine I've set out. But I will try and update more regularly from now on (even if it means I don't sleep so I can get this written).**

 **Any translations are once again at the bottom of the page, and I would just like to thank Christine Feehan for coming up with this beautiful language (even if the phrases I have used in this chapter are less than pleasant.)**

 **So thank you, thank you and thank you again to everyone who has read this story and have been waiting (hopefully patiently) for an update. Here it finally is.**

 **A big thank you to everyone who is following this story, and a massive thank you to those who have reviewed it. I do not ask for reviews but they truly are greatly appreciated. I can't believe how many people like this story. I can't believe people like any of my stories if I'm honest.**

 **One more note, just for time-twilight. Thank you for your reviews, they have made me smile so much. And as much as I would love to answer your questions, there is only one thing I can say. _Spoilers ;)_. **

**Enjoy everyone xXx.**

* * *

Chapter Four

She moved fast. He wasn't expecting that, and so was greatly surprised to find himself on his back on the damp forest floor, the woman he had been searching for was managing to pin him down by sitting on his chest. It wasn't that he couldn't get her off of him, but he wanted to see where this went. He was also very much aware of the power that seemed to have gathered around her. It reminded him of the power that the witches could wield, and yet was nothing like it. This woman was baffling.

"Hello there." His tone was no different from what he normally used; they could have been meeting on the street. Her eyes seemed to focus on him suddenly and she blinked, almost as if she had been unaware of what she was doing. Faint recognition also stole into her eyes and he fought the small grin that would have shown up on his face. "I'm Elijah. And you are?" Diplomacy never failed; he could always change the tempo later on if needed.

There was a pause; she seemed to struggle with what to do. At no time however did she relax her posture, nor did the power that surrounded her let up once. Eventually she let out a very soft sigh, something he was only able to pick up thanks to his advanced senses. "What does it matter to you?"

Her words hit him hard. He had heard her talking to the man back in the city the other night; indeed the two words she had spoken absent-mindedly to him earlier that night had been like a jolt to his system but there had obviously been too much background noise in the city for her voice to make much of an impact. Now out here in the middle of the Bayou, with no one else near them, he found he could almost see every note dancing in the air and became acutely aware of how her body was pressing down on his. Finding his mouth strangely dry he swallowed heavily, inhaling that unique scent he had been tracking ever since deep into his lungs, before replying "I'd like to know the name of the woman who has me pinned to the ground."

She arched an eyebrow slightly. "I don't take kindly to people sneaking up behind me."

"My apologies, I was under the impression you had heard me. There aren't that many people out here after all." Well he was right in a way; the Bayou was home to more than merely _people_. And he had known she didn't know he was behind her; he wanted to know what was going on with her.

"Why do I not believe you? What are you doing out here? There aren't that many people dressed in this…style out here."

"No indeed. I would say it's a long story but...I think I'm out here for the same reason you are." Another lie, but would she pick up on it?

* * *

He had seemed startled when she spoke, this Elijah person. He did appear honest about his name however, and seemed completely relaxed about the whole situation. Almost as though he was used to being pinned down by strangers on a regular basis. Despite the casual tone though, she could feel that his body was tense beneath her, and this made her aware of just how close she was to him.

Her sharp hearing took note of when he swallowed suddenly, her eyes briefly drawn to the thick column of his neck before coming back up to lock gazes with him. He wanted her name. Was he genuine? Or not? She had spent so much time out of society, and her past had tainted her so much that she was struggling to tell what was what anymore. But when she heard his line about being out in the swamps for the same reason as herself she had to unexpectedly fight back a laugh.

"Tell me. Do I truly look that stupid?" He seemed confused so she elaborated. "I'm out here because it is my home, I belong here. You look like you belong…somewhere far more civilised than here. So I will ask you again; what are you doing out here?"

Elijah chuckled slightly, he couldn't help himself. "I will tell you why, if you tell me your name." This time he, completely unconsciously, started trying to compel her.

"Why is my name so important to you?" She started sounding a little aggravated. "And what's with your eyes?"

* * *

Elijah blinked, slightly taken aback. There had only been a few cases where compulsion hadn't worked on someone, and never when an Original was using it. And now not only had it not worked, the being he was trying to use it on had noticed his eyes were changing. "I don't know what you're talking about." He sighed slightly, appearing repentant. "Okay then. Will you let me up? Then I'll tell you."

There was a moment of hesitation before the pressure let up on his chest. She then stood up and as he regained his feet he noticed she moved a fair distance from him. He brushed the debris from his suit and straightened his jacket before leaning on a nearby tree. "So why don't we start with something easy. I am Elijah Mikaelson. You are?"

There was a longer pause, the woman clearly struggling with herself. He wasn't sure he had ever encountered someone who was so cautious. Eventually she spoke, in a voice so quiet it was difficult even for him to hear. "Evangeline."

Elijah bowed his head a little and noted that she vaguely returned the gesture. "Where are you from?" was his next question; he had noticed a faint accent when she was talking.

"Europe." Evangeline remained deliberately vague, not wanting to confirm or deny anything at this stage. "And you?"

He tilted his head in a half nod. "The same. I haven't seen you here before; what are you doing here?"

There was another noticeable pause before she replied. "And you keep track of everyone here?"

Elijah shrugged slightly, a small grin playing on his face. "My family has certain…prominence in the city. There isn't much that happens that we don't know about. This would include a particular incidence that happened in the French Quarter a few days ago."

If it were possible Evangeline stilled even further. She had been positive there was no one around during the confrontation; she's scanned often enough both before and after the fight. Biting her lip she made a split second decision she didn't realise she would come to regret. She lowered her mental shields a tiny little bit and expanded her mind, reaching out to brush against his. She needed to know just who this Elijah Mikaelson was.

* * *

He felt it the second she tried to enter his mind. It reminded him of compulsion and yet was nothing like it. As an Original he had the ability to enter people's minds, control emotions and manipulate dreams as well as sending mental images and distress calls. Over the years he had also learnt how to create mental shields, thanks to his numerous associations with witches. It was only thanks to the witch gene that he had inherited from his mother that he was able to create these shields, and it was the only magic he could really perform.

So he started throwing up mental shields and blocks and strong as he could, whilst also moving with blurring speed to intercept Evangeline. He slammed her against a tree with a hand around her throat but saw her form, for want of a better word, melt before his eyes. Her body disappeared and his legs were kicked out from underneath him, causing his body to go down hard. He managed to twist himself as he fell to the ground, seeing nothing above him but a gathering of mist. Even as he watched the mist moved away from him before solidifying into Evangeline. She was crouched at the edge of the clearing, her eyes cold and flat. Elijah surged to his feet and she moved even further back, her body tensing. "What are you" he demanded. The time for questions had passed. He needed answers now because this woman was becoming more dangerous by the second.

Evangeline's eyes narrowed as she stared at Elijah. She had heard that there were humans who possessed psychic abilities, indeed two of her brothers' lifemates were once human and had been powerful psychics before they had been turned. Another brother was lifemate to the daughter of their prince; his lifemate was the first human who had been successfully converted. And yet this man before her seemed like nothing her kind had come across before. What the hell was going on in this country?

The problem was she had demanding he be truthful with her. She had to be the same back, only it wasn't just about her. She straightened up slowly her body still tense, waiting for his reactions. "I could ask you the same question. You're not human are you."

"Neither are you. I've seen witches pull of some impressive stunts but never something like that." His reply was swift and he saw her eyes narrow slightly more at his statement.

"Witches? I think you mean mages. I can't do what they can."

Elijah stared at her almost as if she had gone mad. "Mages? What are you talking about?" Evangeline was silent and he sighed. "I'm one of the Originals. A vampire, now what are you!"

If it were possible for her eyes to go even icier then they did. Her body tensed further and shifted down slightly into a crouch. "Vampire" she spat out, looking as though she were about to pounce on him.

* * *

Elijah swore softly as the very air around him grew colder. She had recognised the term, and based on her reaction she had obviously had at least one previous encounter, probably more. And for the first time in over a thousand years he found that he was potentially in mortal peril, at the hand of someone other than his father. Well, he was often known as a diplomat; the negotiator in the family. Time to put those skills to the test.

"Okay, we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. Yes I am a vampire, but I'm not going to hurt you. You have my word."

Her posture didn't change, nor did the oppressive feeling that surrounded him. She hadn't however pounced yet; something that he was taking as a positive sign. So he continued.

"We met earlier that evening, in the city. You stumbled into me. I'm not looking for an apology, but I do have some questions. What happened that night? The man you were with, the way he was trapped. That along with what happened…after. I couldn't hear your conversation, but I saw what happened to him. And you fed from him. Are you a vamp…" Elijah broke off as the temperature dropped another couple of degrees "…like me?" He watched her warily, wandering for the umpteenth time whether or not he would survive the night. He seemed to be having a lot of nights like this.

* * *

Evangeline was hesitating. She couldn't tell where this encounter was going. There was a haze in her mind, one that had been there since he had called himself a vampire. Her instinctive reaction had been to destroy him, but he wasn't acting like any vampire she had ever crossed paths with. Well, any vampire that she could remember crossing.

This could of course be a trick, a trap set up which was why she wasn't letting her guard down, ready to attack or defend at a seconds' notice. But there was something that kept her from doing so. She couldn't work out what it was, but there was something that kept making her hesitate. An action she had promised herself she would never perform again.

But it was his last question to her that really threw Evangeline off. He'd asked if she was like him! _Köd alte hän_ , what was going on here? "I am no _hän ku vie elidet,_ a thief of life," she eventually said, her voice cracking slightly as she could barely contain the fury that statement brought. "I am _hän ku piwtä_ ; a hunter, a tracker. More importantly a predator. I hunt those who have betrayed their kind, the _kuly_ who have chosen to give up their souls and prey on the lives of the innocent. Tell me, son of Mikael…yes I know your father's name," she added when she saw him start suddenly, "what does the name _Carpathian_ mean to you?"

* * *

Elijah's eyes grew cold at her mention of his father's name. Did she know Mikael? If so did she also know of his death? And what would her reaction to that be? He could see that his question had unnerved her, and her question to him had invoked the same reaction on his part. Carpathian? What the hell?

"That it's a mountain range stretching throughout Europe. It also features heavily in myths surrounding vampires; Bram Stoker had a lot to answer for, making countless people believe vampires originate in Transylvania." That was all he could think about. What he failed to mention however, was that he had visited cities that bordered the mountains over the centuries, nor did he mention the two strange occurrences he had come across, or the necklace. What he didn't realise was that his hand had drifted once again to rest gently against the pendent he wore, that he always wore, ever since he found it.

It was an action that did not go unnoticed by Evangeline however, and she was able to tell from the slight tightening around his eyes he wasn't telling her everything. But he hadn't mentioned the most significant part, so decided to drop the bombshell. "Yes but…that's not quite what I meant. I was referring to a solitary race called Carpathians. Beings who are both blessed and cursed with longevity, among other…gifts. Many chose to give up their souls and become _hän ku vie elidet;_ literally a thief of life. A vampire. The rest are tasked with hunting down and destroying the vampire, who prey on innocents and wreck mayhem and devastation wherever they go."

"And you are one of these…Carpathians?" Evangeline nodded slightly in response. "And who was that man in the city the other night?"

"A Rogue. A Lycan who had turned his back on his kind and murders indiscriminately. He was attempting to put a plan in place that, if it succeeded, would have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people."

Elijah frowned; he had heard the term Lycan being used before to describe werewolves, but the way Evangeline was saying these terms made it sound like they were a completely different race. What was equally disturbing was that what she was saying was reminding him of the conversation he had had earlier on in the evening when he visited the Crescents. He had to make sure. "Was he by himself?"

Evangeline shrugged slightly. "He was the only one of his kind here, of that I am certain. But it appears he has been…recruiting." For the first time since he had revealed himself to her, she took her gaze off of him and glanced behind him. Elijah turned and saw, for the first time, the group of werewolves that had gathered in the next clearing. Fortunately there was enough distance between the two of them that their little encounter hadn't been overheard, and he realised that despite how tense everything had become between the two of them, Evangeline had been aware of everything that was happening in the camp.

Elijah turned fully so his back was to Evangeline. This move was made deliberately; he wanted to show this strange woman he meant her no harm. Of course there was no guarantee that this would change in the future, but for now there was another matter that needed far more attention. For these wolves were indeed the ones that had been mentioned by the Crescents. Now that he wasn't distracted by the woman, he was able to hear their conversations clearly, and was quick to discover there was some tension in the camp, brought on by the apparent disappearance of their leader. Elijah felt rather than heard Evangeline step forward as more of her attention was captured by the wolves. He did note that she still kept quite a distance between the two of them, just in case if something were to happen. "Can you hear what they are saying?" He asked the question softly, genuinely curious as to her abilities.

She hesitated very briefly before answering him. "Yes. They are trying to decide what to do, for it appears their leader has disappeared." Elijah glanced over at her out of the corner of his eye and saw, to his surprise, a grim smile crossing her face. "Most of them appear to wish to simply go back to their homes, but there are a few who want to continue with their plans. But they feel they need more people first."

Elijah frowned softly; he hadn't been able to hear that. He also felt a sliver of unease at her words; where were these wolves planning to recruit more people? Thinking back on the city's history, he just knew this was spelling trouble for the Crescent wolves, and through them, his family. He sighed slightly. "I think I know where they are planning on getting these people." She didn't turn around, but he was aware of her attention on him. He elaborated further. "Closer to the city is a pack that has been living here for many years. They're known as the Crescent Wolves, and are also closely related to my own family. Sufficed to say, anything that would happen to those wolves would have an effect on my family, and I can guarantee that we would _all_ retaliate." Okay, so maybe not strictly true, unless it was a direct threat to Hope. Then all of his siblings would stand united. Those that were still alive anyway.

"How many of these wolves do you think they would be able to recruit?" was her only question, asked softly as her gaze stayed locked on the camp.

Elijah shrugged. "I'm not sure. Most will be content to stay where they are. But there are no doubt some who would want to join. The real worry would be what would happen if these wolves decided to fight the Crescents. There will be bloodshed."

Evangeline finally turned fully towards him, and this time he truly felt a shiver run down his spine. "Well, that isn't something I can let happen. Especially if they do manage to recruit enough people to carry out their plans."

"Why would that be?"

"Something their leader said the other night to me. That he was going to use them to wipe out the Lycan communities in Russia."

Elijah blinked, slightly shocked at her words. "In Russia? There aren't any wolf packs in Russia."

He received a blank stare from Evangeline. "Well someone's in for a surprise then."

He frowned, about to try and get some more information out of her when he saw her crouch down suddenly. He turned and saw two men standing at the edge of the camp, staring directly at him. Damn it all. He really wasn't with it. There was no time to duck out of the way; the two men had already raised the alarm which was spreading like wildfire amongst the wolves. Elijah cursed softly, turned to look at his companion, and blinked in astonishment. She wasn't there. He swung around in confusion, before hearing a change to the shouts. With an odd feeling in the pit of his stomach he turned around slowly.

And blinked.

Several times.

This was not happening.

* * *

She couldn't remember the last time she had been in a fight like this. It was certainly before…everything. She'd been in no condition to fight back when she had been found, and had then spent who knows how long in the ground recovering. And she couldn't even remember what had happened before, or during, her captivity. So it felt great to stretch her muscles…as it were.

As soon as she heard the shouts indicating Elijah had been spotted she had dissolved, streaming across through the trees to the camp in tiny molecules. She only regained her true form when she had ripped the hearts out of the two wolves that had seen Elijah, and then removed their heads for good measure. By this point the rest of the camp was up in arms and charging. To her slight surprise (not that she showed it) none of them were changing into their wolf forms. Shrugging her shoulders a little Evangeline went to work, easily taking down each person that attempted to attack her. It wasn't even a challenge. If this was what would be going up against the Lycan communities in Europe, Evangeline was doing them a favour by taking them down now.

She became aware of Elijah joining in on the fight, and was silently impressed with his abilities. He was certainly holding his own against these wolves, not that she was finding it a particular struggle. It was over after a few more minutes and Evangeline straightened up slowly, pushing her hair out of her eyes. Around her were about thirty bodies. Not everyone in the camp had attacked them, and so she had taken care not to harm those who had held back, but those who had thrown themselves at her; well, she hadn't shown any mercy. She turned around to see how Elijah had fared and saw him also standing amidst several bodies. She allowed herself a brief smile before turning to those who had kept back. Her eyes flashed red, the air around her thickened and charged with electricity which set her hair crackling, and thunder rumbled in the skies above them. Her voice was very soft yet everyone standing in the vicinity could hear her clearly, and all could hear the power that echoed in her words. "I suggest that you abandon this quest. I also suggest that you run. Run fast." Lightning suddenly lit the skies, highlighting her face. All those staring at her saw that her eyes were now completely and utterly void of life. There was no spark of humanity, only the promise of death.

The wolves that were still in the camp turned and fled. Seconds later several bolts of lightning hit the ground, incinerating the bodies that lay nearby each strike. With small waves of her hand Evangeline directed the lightning to the rest of the bodies, reducing them to nothing more than ash. Not once did the bolts hit her or Elijah. Only when the last body had been completely incinerated did she turn back around to face Elijah. She frowned slightly when she saw he had a hand pressed against his arm, his skin tone ever so slightly paler. She took half a step towards him before hesitating. "What happened?" she asked softly. Unlike when she had spoken to the wolves, her voice was slightly warmer, her eyes glinting with the smallest amount of humanity.

Elijah shook his head slightly, pressing down on his arm a little harder. "Wolves. Dangerous during a full moon, just as dangerous the rest of the month." He pulled his hand away from his arm and Evangeline saw a large bite mark, blood running down his sleeve. "They appear to have forgotten that, being an Original, a werewolf bite won't kill me."

Evangeline raised an eyebrow slightly, staring at his paler complexion. "It doesn't look like you're completely unaffected though."

His response was a shrug. "No, I'll still be affected by it. And I haven't fed this evening, which means the poison in the wolf's bite is spreading faster through my system." Hearing the word poison had Evangeline stepping forward in alarm, her forehead creasing slightly. "It'll only incapacitate me for a while, but I'll suffer from hallucinations, fevers etc. It's happened before, but I will survive it."

He seemed blasé about it, but Evangeline wasn't fooled. As for him suffering. Despite the fact that she barely knew him, was still cautious beyond belief, but she couldn't help it. At the end of the day, she was a Daratrazanoff. It was as good as encoded in her DNA to help others. She watched as he sank down to the ground, his body already shaking softly, before speaking up. "I can help. There's no need for you to suffer."

Elijah shook his head, swallowing heavily. "No. You don't need to do that."

Evangeline smiled ever so slightly at him. "I wasn't asking for your permission." Before Elijah could say anything she was already in play, her eyes unfocusing and her hand raising slightly towards him. He had no warning before a flash of heat suddenly swept through his body, and he felt the strangest feeling that there was someone else in his body with him. What was even stranger was that he could actually feel the poison receding from his body, being forced back to the bite and he could actually see the venom trickling down his arm to the ground. After a few minutes Evangeline's eyes blinked and she looked up at him, smiling faintly. "How do you feel?"

Such a simple question, and it should have been a simple answer; indeed it was a simple answer. But he didn't know what to say. The beginnings of the fever, the slight nausea, the shakiness of his limbs, had all vanished. Almost like they had never been there to begin with. He pushed himself to his feet and found that he stumbled slightly, remembering that he had still not fed. A hand steadied him and he looked up to see Evangeline standing close to him, a hand on the arm he had been bitten on. He looked back down to the bite, and saw that nothing remained. Like he had never been bitten. Even if his accelerated healing had kicked in, there would still be some evidence of the bite for a while yet, but there was nothing. "How?" was all he could ask.

* * *

Evangeline watched as he regained his feet, more colour draining from his face, though she suspected this time it was from shock rather than blood loss. She stood up slowly, feeling a slight drain following the healing session, but nothing that really affected her. Watching him stumble slightly she put out a hand to steady him, an age-old instinct that she was barely aware of doing. His eyes flickered to her before moving down to look at the bite mark, now fully healed. "How?" she heard him whisper, almost like he had never seen a healing session before. Maybe he hadn't. She was starting to suspect something.

"A simple healing session, nothing more." She paused before asking softly "You've never seen it before, have you?"

Elijah shook his head, looking back up at her. "No. You really are different from us aren't you."

She frowned slightly. "Us? There are more of you?"

He nodded. "Yes, New Orleans hosts a large variety of supernatural beings. The French Quarter more than most."

Evangeline sighed quietly. It seemed that no matter where she went, she was never really able to escape others like her. Although she still wasn't convinced that he was like her. There were too many differences. She noticed that not all of his colour had returned to his face, and with another sigh released his arm. He looked at her in slight confusion as she lifted her other hand before his eyes widened in alarm as he watched her slash her wrist. She brought her bleeding hand up to his face, her eyes watching him with a hint of wariness.

"You need to feed," was all she said, well aware of how his eyes had fastened on the blood dripping down her arm. She swallowed heavily as his fingers closed around her arm and pulled her towards him, forcing herself to stay still as he bent his head and felt his teeth sink into her flesh. Her body trembled slightly and she forced her mind to stay in the present, to not slip back into her memories.

* * *

Elijah had started to protest, to say that he would be fine and would feed when he was back in the city. He hadn't fed before he made his way out into the Bayou earlier that evening because, in all honesty, he hadn't really been expecting to find anything, let alone fight a group of werewolves, and then get bitten by one. He realised, belatedly, that because it wasn't a full moon yet, the wolf's bite shouldn't have been lethal. Well, not lethal to him, but it shouldn't have been poisonous. So how was the venom able to affect his as it did?

But all of these thoughts was driven out of his mind when the wind shifted ever so slightly and the scent of her blood hit him. Now Elijah was well known for his control over the blood-lust. In fact he had that much control over it that he was all but immune to that lust anymore. But when he smelt her blood, he found he couldn't control himself. Without realising what he was doing, he had caught her arm in his grasp and had bent his head to her wrist. The scent of her blood hit him again just before he sank his teeth into her wrist, and if the smell was intoxicating then the taste of her blood as it filled her mouth was even more so.

The force that hit him as he ingested her blood was overwhelming, actually making his body tremble slightly. He had never given much thought to what happened when he consumed blood but right now he could almost swear that he could feel her blood travelling through his body, mingling with his and soaking into his very cells.

The Original was unaware of time passing until he suddenly became aware of how her body was trembling in his grasp. Almost reluctantly he pulled himself away from her wrist, looking up to see Evangeline's face had paled rather dramatically. She was breathing heavily and her body was shaking terribly.

Without thinking, without even pausing to consider the ramifications, Elijah dropped her arm before biting into his own wrist and bringing it to her mouth. She started feeding almost blindly, her eyes unfocused once again, but this time he could tell that she was lost in memories; he'd seen this before.

The second that she started to feed he had to close his eyes as another force washed over him. He had fed from other creatures before, and had also fed many others, but those experiences were nothing like this one. There truly were no words to describe the experience. He only opened his eyes when he felt her body stiffen suddenly; he saw her eyes had focused in on him and a look of horror was crossing her face. He gently pulled his wrist away from her mouth, realising that whilst she had been feeding his other hand had become tangled in her hair. He let the strands slip through his fingers as he stepped away from her, swallowing heavily.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, shocked at how breathless he felt. "What was that?"

Evangeline shook her head, staring up at him with large eyes, full of fear. This had Elijah feeling concerned. "I..I don't know." Her voice trembled as she spoke and Elijah knew she was lying.

But before he could call her out on it a shrill ringing noise suddenly pierced the air. Both of them flinched even as Elijah recognised the ringing of his cell phone. Silently cursing the timing of whoever was calling him Elijah took another step away from Evangeline and pulled the cell from his jacket pocket, turning around to face away from her. He glanced at the caller ID before accepting the call. Rebekah. _Fantastic._

"Sister." He hoped his voice sounded normal over the phone, because it seemed anything but normal to his ears.

"Elijah? Where are you?"

He frowned slightly. That wasn't Rebekah's voice. "Freya? Why are you on Rebekah's phone?"

"Because I don't have one yet, now where are you?"

"In the Bayou. What has happened?" Because knowing his family something was bound to have happened.

"Nothing." There was a note of hesitation in her voice however, something that, despite his reeling senses, Elijah picked up on immediately.

"What is it Freya?" His voice was commanding, demanding an answer.

"Niklaus…wants to talk to you."

Elijah closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose slightly in frustration. Christ, his younger brother couldn't have picked a worst time to have _this_ little discussion. "Tell him I'll be there within the hour." He ended the call and took in a deep breath before turning back to Evangeline.

Only to find she wasn't there anymore.

 _Damn it_ , she must have slipped away when he was on the phone. He stayed standing in the remains of the wolf camp for a few more minutes before shaking his head before striding into the forest. Putting on a burst of speed he headed back towards the city, his mind teeming with questions even as the coming confrontation with his brother loomed on the horizon.

* * *

Carpathian Translations:

 _Köd alte hän -_ Darkness curse it

H _än ku vie elidet_ \- Vampire (literally : thief of life)

H _än ku piwtä_ \- predator; hunter; tracker

K _uly_ \- Intestinal worm; tapeworm; demon who possesses and devours souls.


	5. Chapter 5

**I thought, as I was finishing this chapter, that I was ending it on a similar note to how I ended the previous chapter. However, I have just checked, and no I haven't. Thankfully because that could have been boring otherwise.**

 **Christ, I cannot believe it has taken me four days to write this chapter. Although a lot of that is due to me writing it around working hours. Hence the delay. For which I apologize. I just want to say that some people may not be happy with how OC some characters are, but this is fanfiction. I have artistic licence. I'm not saying that any character should change. It's just an idea in my head that I've put onto paper. Or screen.**

 **Massive thank you to everyone reading this story, to those who have started and those who have stayed with it. time-twilight your review is appreciated once again, and again I love the questions and cannot answer them or I will be giving a lot of the story away (which I may have just inadvertently done anyway).**

 **A lot happened in this chapter, and it didn't go the way I expected it to, so I really hope it makes sense and you all have fun reading it. Enjoy everyone xXx.**

* * *

Chapter Five

Sufficed to say the compound had seen better days. Elijah had returned to find only one person there, standing in the courtyard, waiting. He had known instinctively that no one else was there, no one else that might have interfered or managed to get in the way. He had known, before he had even set foot on the property, that this wasn't going to be pretty, this…conversation, with his brother.

And it most certainly wasn't. Klaus wanted Elijah to pay for stabbing him, conveniently forgetting of course, that it was an action he had undertaken himself many times over the centuries. Very few words had been exchanged between the two of them, and it was time to change that. The two had been at this for half an hour and the only thing they had managed to achieve was the slow destruction of their home.

"Enough," he bellowed after he had thrown Klaus into a wall. "Enough Niklaus. This is getting us nowhere."

Klaus pulled himself out of the hole, his dark gaze fixed on Elijah. "Oh, I wouldn't say that. I'm feeling so much better." He moved forward with blurring speed, kicking Elijah in the chest. He had anticipated the move however, and even as he stumbled back he grabbed Klaus' leg and used that hold to swing the younger man around and threw him into the opposite wall. There was a small pause as Klaus pulled himself out again and fell to one knee, shaking his head to re-orientate himself.

"I have done nothing more than I have done continuously throughout the years. Protect this family. Whatever way I can. It is no less than what you have done yourself Niklaus."

"You stabbed me in the back Elijah. You, the noble brother, who has stood by my side…"

"And yet that is what you have done to each and every one of us over the course of our existence. I did what I did to protect this family, to protect Hope."

"I can protect my own daughter," Klaus roared at him, charging in again.

Elijah ducked away from the punch, grabbed Klaus' shoulders and pinned him against the wall. His brother was so clouded by rage that Elijah was able to hold him with ease. "No brother, you couldn't. Not by yourself; it took _all_ of us. Even with Freya channelling Finn, we still needed our parents to take down Dahlia. We are not powerful enough on our own. Even you, the original Hybrid, needs help sometimes…"

"You swore never to turn your back on family…"

"When have I done otherwise Niklaus?" Elijah was starting to become more and more frustrated.

"You turned your back on me," Klaus yelled at him. "You chose to trust the word of a stranger over me."

Elijah closed his eyes, suddenly understanding. "I trusted Freya."

Klaus pushed away from Elijah and stalked across the courtyard. "You turned your back on me. You betrayed me."

"That's what you think? That I betrayed you? That I turned away from you? I put our trust in our sister Niklaus. _Our sister_. The woman who knew our enemy, who knew what to expect, who had the best chance of taking her down. Up until a few weeks ago Niklaus we didn't even know Dahlia existed. She had spent centuries trying to break free. I didn't turn my back on you. I…" he sighed heavily. He had though, hadn't he. However inadvertently. "I am sorry brother. I never wanted you to…"

"To what _brother_?" Niklaus mocked the title and Elijah looked up at him.

"I never wanted you to feel like this. Rejected. I have not rejected you. You gave me no choice."

"So, this is my fault? Something else that is my fault. Oh yes, let's go and blame the big bad hybrid."

"That is not what I said Niklaus, you are not listening to me again."

"Then what are you saying Elijah."

"That I am sorry, Niklaus."

Klaus turned to stare at his brother. Elijah was known as the negotiator, had a reputation of a diplomat, but he had never expected him to say that he was sorry. "You…"

Elijah ran a hand through his hair as he leant against a wall. "I am sorry. That I made you feel this way, to feel that you cannot trust me anymore. I am sorry that we have reached this point where someone, our sister nonetheless, has come between us. This isn't family. This isn't…" he trailed off.

"What we are?" Niklaus laughed darkly. "You forget Elijah, we're all monsters at the end of the day."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that brother." Elijah's voice turned thoughtful as his mind was cast back to the events that happened earlier that night.

"What do you mean?" Klaus had, for once, picked up the tone of his voice and was paying attention. Typical Klaus behaviour, with the attention span of a goldfish.

"I came across something rather strange a few nights ago in the city. Two…beings I have never come across before."

Klaus frowned. "What do you mean by beings?"

"Well at first I thought one was a vampire and the other a werewolf. And in a way, they are…were even. The wolf was a male, but he was nothing like the wolves I've come across over the years, including you brother. I do believe he would have bested all of us with ease. From what I could see Niklaus, he was of a completely different race to the werewolves we know. He was referred to as a Lycan, and a Rogue."

"Was?" Klaus had found two glasses and a decanter of whiskey that had somehow survived their earlier fight and poured them both a drink.

"He was…destroyed seems to be the most appropriate term to use. He had been imprisoned in a structure of wood; I could see slivers of silver imbedded within the wood and it appeared to be poisoning him, before he was drained practically dry. Then lightning came down and incinerated him. There was nothing left."

Klaus frowned. "But there have been no storms here recently."

"As I said brother, it was like the lightning was called down."

"By what, a witch?"

"No, she was no witch. She was this other…creature? Being? I don't know what she should be called."

"The one you said was a vampire?"

Elijah laughed slightly. "Oh no brother. If you ever come across her, do not call her a vampire. The reaction is…unsettling."

"Then what is she Elijah?"

"She calls herself a Carpathian. Apparently she comes from that region."

Klaus snorted. "Very original. Doesn't she mean Romanian? Or Gypsy?"

Elijah shook his head. "No. It isn't a nationality. According to her it's a species. An ancient species if what she says is true."

"And you believe her?" Klaus rolled her eyes. "Of course you do. Christ Elijah, what is it with you and mysterious women?"

"You did not see what I did Niklaus. She was able to best me in a fight. She took down a pack of werewolves almost single-handedly. She was able to call down lightning and change her body into mist."

Klaus stared at his brother, wandering if he had finally lost his mind. "Are you sure the events of the recent weeks haven't finally caught up with you?"

"Do not be ridiculous. You know they have not."

"What was this pack she took down? It had better not be a part of the Crescents."

Elijah shook his head. "No. It was almost like a combination of several packs. People who had left their original packs and joined this one. Why they were gathering in the Bayou is beyond me, but they looked like they were assembling an army out there."

That really caught Klaus' attention. "An army?"

Elijah proceeded to tell him what happened out in the Bayou, how he had been affected by a werewolf bite, and how this woman had healed him. Klaus had scoffed at that and demanded to see the scar. Elijah obliged him and took off his suit jacket. There was still a large rip on his shirt sleeve which Klaus did not take a definitive proof; there were several tears in both of their clothing from their fight with each other. Elijah rolled up his sleeve and saw, yet again, there was nothing to indicate there had been a bite mark there at all. Klaus rolled his eyes. "Nothing. That's your proof? And why would a regular werewolf bite affect you Elijah; you are an Original remember."

"I do not think they were ordinary werewolves anymore Niklaus. They were faster. Stronger. Not like the ones we have faced in the past."

"Did anything else happen in this mysterious encounter?"

Elijah started to nod then paused. Should he tell his brother about them sharing blood? It was normal for them to do it; they did live off the stuff after all. But something held him back. However, Elijah had decided to stop holding things back from his brother, from all of his family. They had too many secrets from each other, and it was tearing their family apart. It was time that came to an end. Starting now. "Yes. I took her blood, and she took mine."

"And do you feel any different? Stronger? Able to read other's minds now?" Klaus was back to mocking him; the mode he favoured most.

"Read minds, no. I think she could though. She was answering questions I hadn't spoken aloud. But I do feel…everything is a little sharper; my perceptions are clearer, more tuned I guess you could say. Our fight seemed almost like a choreographed dance; I could see which move you were about to pull which was why I could counter it. And I'm more aware of my surroundings. I can hear, if I really stretch it, back out to the Bayou."

Now Klaus was frowning. He wanted to discredit what Elijah was saying, call him a fool or an idiot, but he found he could not do it.

"There was another thing. Compulsion didn't work on her. Similar to werewolves and witches I guess, but she could tell I was using it, and I felt her inside my head at one point. And when she healed me it was like a heat passing through my body, her eyes had become unfocused; it was almost like she wasn't in her body anymore. I could have sworn she was inside me."

If Klaus was concerned beforehand, now he was very worried. "Do you think she is a threat to us brother?"

Elijah shook his head. "No, I do not think so. She had the opportunity to kill me several times but she never took it; why would she heal me if she wanted to hurt us? And why fight the werewolves? Take down this other being? No Niklaus, she is in the city for another reason."

"Then we need to find out what it is." Klaus drained his glass and surged to his feet from the step he had been sitting on throughout their conversation. He strode to the entrance to the Compound before turning to look back at Elijah. "Well brother, are you coming?"

Elijah straightened up and pulled his jacket back on as he walked over to his sibling. "And where are we going?"

"To see our lovely witchy sisters. If anyone can track down an elusive being in this city, it's them."

* * *

She hadn't meant to go back into the city. She had resolved to stay as far away as possible from that place. Especially following that encounter. She didn't want to be around these…vampires. Evangeline couldn't help her reaction to that word. How could she have existed for as long as she had without ever hearing of this species? Well, she might have. Before…so many of her memories were lost, memories that she was never getting back. So, it was possible she had come across these creatures before. But surely, she would recognise them, on some level.

And what about the rest of her people? Since she had returned to them, they had made a point, especially the Prince's lifemate and daughter, who was also her…sister…to bring her up-to-date on what had happened over the years. It was a gesture that didn't go down too well. Evangeline was just too…broken? That was probably the best word. But not once did _anyone_ mention anything about a species that was like them but not, a different type of vampire.

That was a thought that brought a small smile to her face. That felt uncomfortable. But really, a different type of vampire? It seemed implausible. There were only vampires; Carpathians who had chosen to give up their souls, to become the damned, for that rush, the small moments where they could feel when they tortured and murdered their victims. Evangeline closed her eyes, unconsciously rubbing her shoulder. It did no one, least of all herself, any good to dwell on the past. There was nothing she could do about it, no way to go back and change what had happened. She could only move forward.

With that thought in mind her eyes opened again to survey the city. She was perched in the shadows on top of a building. _A church_ , her mind whispered. She stayed still, her coat pulled in tight against her body to stop flapping in the wind; only her eyes moved, tracking people who passed by on the street below. She was listening intently to every sound, her mind flitting from being to being. She was searching for one being in particular. Why? She couldn't say. It hadn't been a conscious decision, but found herself being drawn back to the crowds of people like a moth to a flame.

She shouldn't have come here. She should have been on her way out of the city, hell out of the country. When she had fed on the Rogue the other night she had scanned his memories, trying to find out where he had come from. It seemed he had entered this country from the north and had travelled down, visiting as many of these strange wolf packs as possible and recruiting bodies. She needed to find where he had started, if any Rogues had come with him. He had said he was by himself, but Evangeline couldn't trust that. It had never been heard of, a Rogue on his own. Sure, the _Sange Rau_ didn't have a pack, but they usually worked in tandem with various rogue packs or fell in with vampires. That creature was despicable, but he wasn't a _Sange Rau_. So what was going on?

That's what she should have been doing. But no, instead she was back in the stupid city trying to find the one being she should be avoiding. Just as she was thinking she wouldn't find him, was about to give up she saw him. She wasn't touching his mind, rather the mind of someone who was with him. Evangeline frowned; she couldn't work out these brain patterns. It was like there were two personalities…no that wasn't the right description. It was one person, but with two sets of instincts, balanced out with one another. She risked going a little deeper, astonished at what she was finding. This…male, he was certainly a male…was very similar to the being she had met earlier that rising, but there was another side to him. Something…wilder. More primitive. _"Veriak ot en Karpatiiak!"_ she whispered under her breath. It was the same as those beings she had fought earlier. Werewolves, if she were to believe what she had been told. So this being was both wolf and vamp…a snarl tore out of her throat. _Abomination_. Without thinking, acting purely on instinct she dropped off of the ledge, her body contorting and changing, shrinking in on itself to take the shape of an owl. She glided silently across the city, her mind locked onto her prey. All civilised thoughts had been driven out of her mind, the only thing left was the age-old instincts. Hunt. Fight.

Kill.

* * *

It hadn't taken the brothers long to find their sisters, sequestered away in the attic room Freya had been staying in. Elijah made a mental note to convince her to move into the Compound. The two women wanted to know why they were there and so he obliged them with a _very_ brief rundown of what he knew. He had left out a great deal of information and was pretty sure that Rebekah had picked up on that, but didn't comment on it. Thankfully.

"So what do you want us to do?" His little sister knew them far too well. The only time Klaus would willingly let information be passed around like this was when he wanted something. She was therefore not in the least bit surprised at his next comment.

"We want…" Elijah cleared his throat and Klaus rolled his eyes at the interruption. " _I would like_ you to try and track down this woman." He smirked at his older brother. "I want to talk to her, find out whether she is going to be a threat."

"Why would she be a threat?" was Freya's question. Her siblings shared a smile and she frowned. "What?"

"Well sister, once you have spent some more time with us you will quickly come to realise that most new things that come into our lives end up being a threat in one form or another. Present company excluded of course." Elijah quickly added on at the glare his older sister sent his way. Older sister, that was a thought that was taking some getting used to.

"Unfortunately he's right. Usually not a week goes by where there isn't something that is a threat to our family. You should probably know that." Rebekah grinned at her sister. "It's certainly never dull I can tell you that."

Freya sighed. "Okay, let's try a tracking spell then. But if she's as powerful as you say she is it may take both of us Rebekah."

She nodded, retrieving a small bundle of sage whilst Freya gathered the stone basin and runic tile she needed for the spell. Elijah spread a map of New Orleans on the floor of the attic and Freya placed the basin and tile in front of it. She then lit the sage and started pouring her magic through it onto the tile, before projecting it onto the map. It was an ancient spell, one that Elijah could only just remember his mother performing a couple of times in his childhood. Rebekah placed her hands on Freya's shoulders to channel her magic into her sister. The two women then closed their eyes and began the chant. " _Inveniere potencia reparon. Inveniere potencia reparon."_ The phrase was repeated again and again. Eventually a small pile of ash from the burning sage began to appear on the map, moving across the city. Elijah and Klaus bent down to determine the location. Freya frowned, discontinuing the chant although Rebekah carried on. "I don't…something is wrong."

"What is?" Klaus asked the question, looking from the map to his sister.

"She's moving fast. Too fast. And in a straight line."

Elijah frowned. That couldn't be right. Not the moving fast part; having seen her in action he had a good idea of how fast Evangeline could move. But in a straight line. This was a city; unless she was on a street she couldn't move in a straight line. And the ash trail on the map was cutting across the city, not following any lines. "Could she be on roof tops perhaps?"

Freya shook her head, her eyes still closed and her forehead creased in concentration. "No. I've got a sense…she's at the same height…no. She's stopp…gah!"

The bundle of smoldering sage in her hand suddenly burst into a ball of flame. Freya dropped it and stumbled back; Rebekah's hands fell from her shoulder's and she too stepped back whilst Klaus stamped down the fire, leaving nothing but a pile of ash on the floor. Freya climbed to her feet, cradling her hand against her chest, staring at the mess. Elijah moved to her side, reaching out for her hand. "What happened?"

Freya shook her head. "I don't know. I couldn't connect. One minute I was reaching out…then it was like a wall slammed down in front of me and pushed me back. I've never come across this before."

Elijah exchanged a look with his brother. This was not boding well. Evangeline was quickly turning out to be more powerful than even he had realized; he had thought he had a scale of her power but was now coming to the conclusion he truly had no idea about her strength. "Did you find out where she is?" was Klaus' question.

Freya looked down at the map, her eyes wide. Elijah looked down and saw nothing but ash. Evidently the burning sage had destroyed the map. Freya bit her lip and shook her head. "No. I don't know."

Before any of the siblings could say anything else a crash of thunder shook the building they were in. The four of them turned to the window and saw, to their surprise, that storm clouds had gathered over the Quarter and the sky was now alive with thunder and forks of lightning. Rain poured down, lashing against the windows and wind tore down the streets. Elijah frowned, stepping closer to the window. No storm had been forecast for this night, although this seemed more like a hurricane than merely a storm.

Without warning a force shook the room and they were thrown to the ground. Another crack of lightning lit the room, blinding them all. It took a while for his vision to clear but when it did Elijah could make out a silhouette standing next to the window. Raw, wild power filled the room and he swallowed, recognizing it. The temperature dropped several degrees as he pulled himself to his feet, his hands rising in front of him in an attempt to calm her down. "Evangeline?" He spoke her name softly, slowly. Her eyes flickered to him and he was startled to see the absolute lack of life in them.

Before he could think about what to do next she was moving, waving a hand and he felt his body being forced back across the room and down to the floor. At the same time, she sprang across the room, crashing into Klaus who had also started to rise and sent him back onto the floor. Elijah saw his brother's face contort with rage, his eyes turned to the golden yellow colour that indicated he was accessing his hybrid abilities, and he started trying to throw her off. She didn't so much as move an inch which only served to infuriate Klaus further. Freya scrambled to her knees and started a paralysis spell to try and help Klaus throw the woman off him.

The second she started chanting however Evangeline's head snapped around and she snarled at Freya, before waving her hand a second time and Freya's body was slammed down onto the floor. Elijah noticed that her features were changing, her eyes alarmingly so; one was still dark and lifeless, whereas the other was turning silver, both taking on a distinctive feline shape. Faint marks began taking shape on her face too, lines and smudges. Before he could work out what they were she turned her attention back to his brother and Elijah knew he had to do something. Fast.

Without thinking he brought his hand up to his mouth and bit deeply into his wrist, ignoring the stab of pain. Blood immediately began dripping down his arm, staining his clothing and pooling onto the floor but he didn't notice it, his eyes fixed on the woman holding his brother down.

Her posture changed, ever so slightly, but he was looking for it. Her shoulders tightened fractionally and her hand, which had been reaching down to Klaus' chest, stopped moving. Her head turned slightly and her eyes moved, fixing on Elijah. No, not on him, on his blood. Klaus made to move but Rebekah, seeing what her brother was attempting to do, motioned for him to stay still. Klaus subsided, although he didn't look happy about it. No one else moved, no one dared breathe; all were waiting to see what would happen next.

Ever so slowly Evangeline began to move off Klaus, her movements cat-like, her body flowing in one exaggerated movement. Elijah caught another glimpse of her face as the room was lit by more lightning and was silently shocked by what he saw. The beauty he had seen earlier was still there but…there were barely words to describe it. Her eyes were complete opposites, but he realized the one that he had thought was turning silver was actually white, milky with no iris. The other was still black, but before where there had been no life in it, there was now a spark. Humanity? Elijah wasn't sure yet. But that wasn't the most alarming part. Her face was ravaged by scars. One ran down from her hairline to her jaw, cutting across the milky white eye, another split off it and ran in a jagged line to her ear and back into her hair. One crossed her lip, and a third one, thick and jagged again, ran down the line of her throat and disappeared into her clothing. On the other side of her face were burn marks, a large one on her neck and smaller ones dotted across her jaw, cheek and temple. He was certain that there were more covered by her outfit; he could see there were scars dotted across her hands as well. What the hell had this woman been though?

She took a small step forward, her gaze still fixed on Elijah's blood and he realized she was stalking him; he had to fight not to take a step back. Time seemed to freeze for a second before she moved again. Only this time, none of them saw it. One minute she was standing on one side of the room, then she appeared in front of Elijah, crouched down over him and was holding onto his arm with both hands. She appeared fascinated by his blood and bent her head low, her tongue reaching out to touch the scarlet liquid. By this point his wrist had already healed but there was still a considerable amount of blood on his arm and the area he had bitten into ached, probably from him biting so deeply and without care. As soon as her tongue encountered the area however that pain seemed to diminish, and continued to fade as she lathered the entire area. It was strange, but not once did she move away from that spot, try and consume anymore of the blood on his arm, or bite down into his wrist. It seemed like she was trying to…well not heal him because he had already healed, but save him from discomfort.

Eventually she pulled away, letting Elijah's arm drop from her grasp. Her arms dropped to her sides and her head bowed low, hair falling forward to cover her face. Elijah took great care to move slowly away from her, pushing himself to his feet now that the force that had held him down had vanished. He noted that his siblings had also stood up and had started to converge on the woman, but he held up a hand, warning them to pause. "Evangeline?" He said her name softly, waiting to see if she would acknowledge him.

* * *

A haze had entered her mind. Clouded her senses. The second she knew she was being tracked she slammed safe-guards around her, protecting her physically and mentally. Lips curled back and a snarl ripped from her throat as she traced that strand back to its source. It had come from where she was heading. Not from the one she was after; the touch was feminine, but still. No one tried to track her. No one.

Without realizing she had abandoned the form of the owl and had returned to her own form she dissolved, molecules streaming across the city directly to her quarry. She had stirred the elements, created the storm, and now it raged as she stood in the room, body crouched over her prey. She knew there were others there, that they could be a threat, but she had already subdued them with a mere wave of her hand. There was only one thing on her mind and that was to end the abomination that lay beneath her, even now accessing the strength its mixed blood gave it. Despite that power though she was still able to over-power it, her hand reaching down to tear its heart out, her fingernails extending into sharp, silver-tipped talons.

Until suddenly she stopped. Why? Something had happened. Something had…invaded her senses. What was it? There! Her head turned and saw one of the others in the room with bright red staining their arm. His arm. The being was male. She blinked once, transfixed. Suddenly it seemed that there were only two things in existence; herself and the male with his bright red arm. Blood. The smell registered with her and she realized what was happening. He was bleeding. The thought wasn't conscious, didn't register with her, but she knew what she had to do. Then she was in front of him, bent down over him, touching his arm. A stray thought flittered through; _she knew him_. It was gone as quickly as it came as she bent her head to the arm. The blood had stopped flowing, the wound had sealed, but it was still raw, hurting. An age-old instinct kicked in and she ran her tongue hesitantly over the area, the healing agents in her saliva absorbing into the skin and washing away the pain. The taste of his blood exploded in her mouth and she stifled a moan. Each time she licked his arm she ingested more of his blood, and that haze that had clouded her mind started to fade. It wasn't until she knew his arm was completely healed that her mind was truly clear once again.

Silent, in shock, she let his arm fall from her hands. She saw what her hands looked like and let them drop to her sides, her head bending forward. She closed her eyes in shame. If her hands looked like that then…that meant her face…she had lost control. She hadn't lost control in a long time. Belatedly she realized it had probably happened because of the rage she had felt. That she hadn't been able to control. That made her shame and self-loathing grow even more. _Köd alte hän_ , she was pathetic. Broken. Useless.

She was so lost within her own mind, pulling herself back together and bringing her mind and body back under control that she didn't hear the whisper of her name. It was only when a finger tucked itself underneath her chin that she realized there was someone in front of her. It was the taste of his blood that had brought her back to clarity, away from the madness in her mind. She would recognize that taste. It was…unique. _Elijah_ , her mind whispered to her. Taking a deep breath, she let him lift her head up, waiting until the last moment to open her eyes. She didn't want to see the horror in his eyes, the anger, wariness, condemnation. She didn't want to face the questions. She knew it would all be there; it always was when she lost control in front of someone. So she was shocked to see nothing but worry written across his face. Her heart skipped a beat at that look.

"Are you okay now?" The question was voiced slowly, gently, like he was talking to a wild animal. He couldn't have been closer to the truth. She was broken, traumatized, and most definitely dangerous. She couldn't be around these people, around civilization. That was why she had fled from her homeland in the first place. Because she brought nothing but danger to her people, to her family. She _had_ to leave. And now she had to leave here, the place she had thought she would be safe in. All because she had made the mistake of coming into the city. Why had she thought she was stronger than this? She wasn't.

"Evangeline." There was his voice again, soft, smooth, fully of worry. She swallowed heavily and opened her mouth to test her vocal chords.

"I…" she had to cough, her throat aching. "I'm okay." She paused, biting her lip hard to try and ground herself. "I'm so sorry," she whispered, her eyes closing again in shame.

"Why? We all forget ourselves sometimes. We all lose ourselves occasionally. It's nothing to be ashamed at," was his reply to her.

She nearly smiled at his words, her eyes opening again and she peered up at him. The worry had diminished a little but it was still there. Why was he worried? She couldn't work it out. "You don't…I nearly killed you. All of you."

Elijah shrugged. What else could he do? "But you didn't. That's more than any of _us_ have done when we've lost control."

She frowned slightly, but didn't comment. Eventually she spoke again, her voice a little louder now. "I should leave."

"Why?"

The voice was female, from right behind her and Evangeline tensed, not recognising it. Still, she had to answer.

"I'm dangerous. To all of you. I can't…I lose control too easily."

There was a snort, and now laughter clung to the female voice. "And we don't? You should see the temper tantrums in _this_ family. After seeing that little display, I'd say you'd fit right in." There was the sound of movement and then a woman dropped down to crouch near her. She took care to stay aware from Evangeline, recognizing she needed to feel she had space around her. There was a smile on her face. "I'm Rebekah, Elijah's sister. No doubt he hasn't told you a thing about us."

Evangeline looked from the dark-skinned woman to the paler male still kneeling in front of her. There was pure confusion written across her face. Elijah seemed to understand why that was almost immediately. "Rebekah is my blood sister. It's a long story." He sighed, a small smile curving his lips. "She is right. We are all dangerous, in our own way. And there is never a dull moment within our family. Something unexpected _always_ happens."

This time the smile did break out on her face. "You sound like my family."

* * *

Encouraged by her smile and words Elijah's finger finally fell away from her chin and he held out a hand to her. There was a pause before she hesitantly put her hand in his, barely touching his skin. He felt her shake slightly as his fingers closed around hers but he ignored it as he rose to his feet, pulling her up slowly with him. Once she was standing he let go of her hand and took a small step back, gesturing around the room.

"This is my other sister, Freya. I believe she was the one who you sensed first."

A look of embarrassment crossed Evangeline's face as she glanced at Freya, biting her lip. "I um…I am sorry. I hadn't realized…as soon as I sensed someone was tracking me I just…I didn't think…"

Freya shook her head. "It was instinctual. I know all about that." She smiled at the woman, trying to put her at ease. "You are very powerful; I've never seen someone shut down a spell like you did."

"I'm starting to think Evangeline is stronger than you sister, perhaps more than the Original witches." Elijah glanced at Freya before turning his attention back to the woman in front of him. "There's someone else I should introduce you to."

He waved his hand to someone behind her and Evangeline turned slowly, dreading this introduction. "This is my younger brother, Niklaus."

Klaus didn't step forward, nor did he smile. "I don't take kindly to being threatened."

Elijah groaned. "And yet you have nothing against threatening everything that so much as breathes in your general direction brother. Do not mind him Evangeline, Niklaus is…temperamental."

Evangeline was only too happy that he was staying away from her. "I…what are you." It wasn't a question; it was a demand. She needed to know what he was, because she couldn't shake the feeling, the whisper of _abomination_ in her mind when she looked at him.

Klaus arched an eyebrow as he stared at the woman, determined to hate her but found it increasingly difficult, which was annoying. "I'm the Hybrid love," was his eventual answer, curious about her reaction to that news despite his attempt not to be.

She frowned in confusion. "Hybrid? I don't…"

He sighed impatiently. "Half vampire, half wolf. There are only a couple others like me. I am the Original one." No need to elaborate any further.

Her eyebrows raised suddenly. "Only a…" she turned to look at Elijah. "A vampire…like you?" Elijah nodded and she swallowed, running a hand through her hair. Eventually she turned back to Klaus, who was silently shocked at the look of remorse on her face, along with utter desolation.

"I am sorry, Niklaus. Where I come from there are being who are also half-wolf, half-vampire. But they are pure evil, abominations on this earth. They are called _Sange Rau_ , literally bad blood. When I scanned your mind, I felt the presence of the wolf mixed with your vampire senses. I didn't think, I just reacted. All I could see was the _Sange Rau._ " She bit her lip hard.

The siblings exchanged glances at this piece of information; two were bewildered, one sceptical, the other understanding. No need to guess which one was on which face. Elijah took a small step towards her. "My brother may be many things, but I can assure you he is not pure evil. An occasional tyrant yes but nothing like the ones you know of."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at his brother's description, to which Elijah gave a small shrug, as if to say it was true. Well, Klaus realized, it was. With a sigh, and a prodding look from both of his sisters (that was going to get annoying if they kept teeming up all the time) Klaus took a step towards the woman. "It's okay love. Seems we have a lot to learn about each other. Why don't we start with you calling me Klaus."

She glanced at Elijah who sent her a small smile before turning back to him and nodding slightly. "Okay. I am Evangeline. Evangeline Daratrazanoff."

"I've never heard a name like that before," Freya commented. Klaus bit his tongue before he reminded her of how many years she had been asleep. Comments like that would only end up with him being given a brain aneurism. And people said he didn't learn from his mistakes.

Evangeline had shrugged. "Well, my people don't tend to socialize. Not with other races that is."

Rebekah piped up now. "You're really from a different race? How is that possible?"

Evangeline glanced out of the window. Elijah noticed and turned to see the storm had lessened dramatically. There was a faint wind, a soft sprinkling of rain and dark clouds still, but the thunder and lightning had stopped. He could see that the sky in the east was starting to get a little lighter, and turned back to see a look of panic cross Evangeline's face.

She cleared her throat and took a step towards the window, turning to look at the four siblings. "I can't stay any longer. The sun is close to rising and I have to…I can't be…" She could see that Klaus was about to start trying to argue with her, but she had to go to ground before the sun rose, and she couldn't do that in the city. "I promise…I will return. I will explain what I can. But I must go now…" she broke off, looking at Elijah. "I'm sorry…"

Elijah could see the desperation on her face. She really did need to go, and he nodded. "Okay. Will we see you tonight?"

There was a pause. Would she rise the next evening? Normally she didn't, spacing out her risings so she could spend more time in the healing earth. "Yes, you will." Where the hell did _that_ come from?

There was a hint of relief on Elijah's face. "We'll be…"

"I'll find you." Evangeline cut him off. Despite being inside, the sun, still not risen and hidden by the storm clouds, was causing her skin to tingle and itch. Before anyone else could say anything she dissolved, a hint of mist streaming out of the window the only indication she had left. Klaus, Freya and Rebekah were silent for all of ten seconds before all rounding on Elijah and demanding answers. He sighed heavily. This was going to be a long day.

* * *

Carpathian Translations:

 _Veriak ot en Karpatiiak_ – By the blood of the Prince (literally: by the blood of the great Carpathian)

 _Köd alte hän_ – Darkness curse it

 _Sange Rau_ – Bad blood


	6. Chapter 6

**So it's taken me a little longer than I thought it would have to get this story updated. If you are following/reading any of my other stories you may have seen this, but for those of you who haven't I would like to apologise for the delay. Unfortunately it is unavoidable at the moment; most of my time is taken up with teaching responsibilities. Real life sucks.**

 **A massive thank you to everyone who is sticking with me and being endlessly patient; although it would not surprise me in the slightest if you have simply forgotten about this story. I would love to promise that I will update more regularly but it would be an empty promise because I simply cannot guarantee it.**

 **I hope that you all enjoy this chapter (it certainly was quite entertaining to write). I don't ask for reviews, but if you feel like it please feel free to leave one. They do help me know if I'm on the right track :).**

 **Much love to you all, and enjoy**

 **xXxXx**

* * *

Chapter Six

 _"_ _I'll find you."_ The words had echoed in Elijah's head all day, despite the conversations he had had with his siblings. And not just them too – by the time they had returned to the Compound (Freya included) Hayley was up and about; naturally Klaus decided that was the best time to let slip the information of a new 'player' in town. So now Hayley knew too, and her husband Jackson. The pair had left for the Bayou around midday to track down their packs and find out as much information as possible. Klaus had stayed behind, reluctantly at first, until he had realised that he would be able to spend several uninterrupted hours with his daughter. He hadn't been seen from since.

He had ended up spending most of his day with Freya and Rebekah. His sister…younger sister…had been slowly bringing Freya up to date with their lives, but there was a thousand years to talk about, so it was slow going. Rebekah had cornered Elijah as soon as Klaus was otherwise occupied and demanded a full run-down of what had happened the previous evening. He knew there was no way she was going to let it go, especially after she saw the state of the Compound. As the three of them cleaned up Elijah told them everything that had happened, including his original run-in with the woman. _Evangeline_. Her name kept coming back to him, along with her last words. He hadn't told her where they would be, but she had managed to find them easily enough last night; technically she should be able to do so again. But she had hesitated, just before agreeing to see them; Elijah couldn't help but hope she would keep her word. There were just too many unanswered questions.

"For crying out loud brother, get your head out of the clouds." Elijah blinked before focusing in on his sister. Younger sister. Who…despite not being in her original body was still managing to give him the same glare she always had when she was getting particularly pissed off with someone. And being in the body of a witch, with access to magic, pissing her off was probably not the best move to make.

"Forgive me Rebekah. What did you say?"

She huffed and rolled her eyes (another typical Rebekah response, that looked strange coming from someone else) before speaking. "Do you really believe she is from another race?"

He straightened up slowly, setting the chair he had been picking up back where it should have been and sank down into it with a sigh, rubbing a hand across his face. "Yes, I do. What I saw last night…what we all saw her do…it is nothing we have ever seen before. Have you ever heard of them Freya?" He dropped his hand to look at his blonde-haired sister.

She shook her head. "No, I haven't. I don't think that Dahlia had either. She was obsessed with power and anything that would grant her a longer life. If this girl truly is as powerful as you think she is and Dahlia knew about her, she would have stopped at nothing to get her."

The siblings fell silent for a while as they all remembered their power-mad aunt. _"I'll find you."_ Evangeline's voice echoed in his mind again and Elijah supressed a groan, forcing himself to keep his hands resting on the chair's arms rather than running them through his hair in frustration. Why was her voice not leaving him alone?

"How powerful do we think she is?" was Rebekah's next question. She chewed her lip as she watched her brother contemplate his answer.

"Very. You saw her in the attic. She shut down the spell you and Freya had combined your magic to create like it was nothing. And that fight in the Bayou…in all my years I have never seen anything like it." This time he did not supress the sigh bubbling in his throat. "I hate to say this sister, but after meeting this woman I do not believe we know as much about our world as we thought we did. Nor do I believe, as the humans say, we are at the top of the food chain."

"Come now Elijah, stop being so dramatic. Must you always be so doom and gloom?"

The three Originals turned to see Klaus walking down the steps to the courtyard. Alone. Elijah's eyes narrowed slightly; was that…glitter?... on his brother's shirt? Before he could mention anything, or even do so much as raise an eyebrow Klaus threw a glare at him as if to say, 'Not a word.' Despite his feeling of melancholy, a small smile graced Elijah's face. "Where is Hope Niklaus?" he asked instead.

"In her room, asleep. I could hear your conversation upstairs. I thought you were excited about the arrival of this girl brother. You couldn't keep your eyes off her last night." He grinned at his elder sibling as he sauntered over to the bar, picking up one of the few decanters of scotch that had survived the previous evening.

Elijah raised an eyebrow. "We were all looking at her. Including you brother, don't think I didn't notice the look you were giving her. You wanted to tear her throat out."

"Only after she had tried to do the same to me. I'm still not happy with her explanation. There's a lot she hasn't explained. I hope you're planning on getting her to reveal all her secrets when she turns up tonight." Sarcasm was dripping from Klaus' words; he truly did not think the girl would show her face. "And don't forget I saw your actions as well last night. Coaxing her to talk, treating her like she was made of glass. And what was that whole stunt with your blood?"

Rebekah looked from Klaus to Elijah; that last bit was a question she too wanted answered. For a time, it looked as though he wasn't going to answer, but surprisingly Klaus didn't press the issue. He simply leant against the bar, sipping from his glass and stared at Elijah, waiting for an answer.

"It was a hunch. When we were in the swamp she healed me from the wolf bite I sustained." He heard a gasp from his sisters and remembered he hadn't told them about that. Nor _had_ he been planning on telling them. Bloody Klaus. "As soon as she became aware of the wound it was almost like her actions were completely instinctual. She didn't think or hesitate, or even let me stop her. She then gave me blood, and I gave her mine. I guessed she would recognise the scent of my blood, just as we do after we take someone's blood. I thought that if she could smell my blood, freshly running blood, it would snap her out of whatever state she had fallen into."

Freya shuddered slightly. She had seen Evangeline when she had registered the scent of Elijah's blood in the air. It was an image she wished she could forget. The scars, one eye vacant and the other crazed yet completely focused on only one thing. It was…well, disturbing couldn't cover it. "And what has happened to her. Her face when she was pinning Klaus down, when she was stalking you Elijah. How the hell did she end up with those scars? And her eyes…" Freya broke off, swallowing heavily.

Silence dominated the courtyard once again, thick and oppressive. Finally, it was broken by Elijah who sighed, running the heel of one hand over his forehead. "I do not know. She did not look like that earlier in the night, nor when I first saw her. But it did not look like an illusion. We can only wait and see if she will tell us tonight."

Klaus, as typical as ever, scoffed at his brother's words. "We will not wait and see. She will tell us. You are forgetting who is in charge in this city Elijah."

"No Niklaus, but I am not underestimating her, like you are. You saw what she was capable of last night and trust me when I say she fought the wolves like no one I have ever seen," was Elijah's reply. He knew that Klaus was going to throw the comment back in his face when a soft murmur echoed from the top level of the Compound. Niklaus left immediately, speeding upstairs to the bedroom his daughter was currently occupying, leaving his siblings staring at each other once again. The two women looked to their brother, and it was clear in their eyes they wanted him to make a decision. Elijah almost sighed, but caught himself just in time. His siblings were looking to him to lead, even Freya, despite being older than himself. Now was not the time for exhaustion, for fumbling around. Had they not defeated their most powerful foe together only a few weeks ago? They would get through this…whatever this was. Together.

"She said she would be back tonight. I have not seen any reason to mistrust her yet…" he rolled his eyes at the snort echoing down from the third floor, "…so for now we wait. Maybe you can find out anything about these…Carpathians…from the witches here in the Quarter. Hell, try contacting any spirits if you want to. I cannot believe that no one has heard of this species before."

Freya nodded, walking over to the staircase to take her further up into the Compound. Rebekah remained behind for a moment, staring at her brother. "What sister?"

"You seem…rather interested in her Elijah. I haven't seen you like this since…" she hesitated before lowering her voice, "…since we found out Hayley was pregnant."

Elijah didn't answer, and eventually Rebekah turned and followed Freya. Eventually he did move, standing up slowly and running a hand through his hair. Rebekah was right, even if he didn't want to admit it. He was interested in this woman. _Evangeline._ Only because he was interested in her abilities, what she was, and whether she would be a threat to his family. 'That's the only reason why', he kept saying to himself. But he knew, even if he wouldn't admit it, that he was lying. There were so many more reasons. His thoughts kept straying to her; his mind constantly flashing back to how she looked when he last saw her, to when they were in the Bayou, the look on her face when she was feeding from him, how she felt under his hands….

Elijah shook his head, silently reprimanding himself. What the hell? He was an Original for Christ sake, not a newly created vampire struggling with the heightened emotions. It was time to pull himself together. There were still some hours left before nightfall. Enough time to head over to the river, and ask Marcellus if he had heard anything about any new players in the city recently. He left the Compound confidently, with purpose, and forcing his mind to stay on track. To not drift off.

It was a lot harder than he thought it would be.

* * *

All was quiet. Unnaturally so even. It was deep in the swamps, with no human settlements nearby. But there were no animals around either, save for an abundance of insects crawling across the trees and making a thick, moving carpet on the ground. As the light began to fail, the sun finally slipping below the treeline, bats began to fill the air, the flapping and screeching filling the otherwise silent area. Only when the sun had fully set did something happen. A soft swelling in the earth, hardly noticeable until it moved, shifting forward slightly. The mound moved slowly, only stopping when something else moved. A young deer emerged from the treeline, padding quietly across the small plain to the water. It ignored the insects and the bats, didn't notice the displaced earth. The only thought in the animal's mind was water.

It didn't react to the insects gathering below it, climbing its legs or landing along its back. It didn't notice the mound of earth moving closer to it, though its ears did flick back once, and it looked up briefly before resuming its drink. Nothing else happened, until the mound of earth was directly behind the young animal. The earth erupted suddenly, a geyser of dirt shooting up over the startled creature. The deer screamed and cried out as it was dragged below, the earth pouring over it and the hole created until there was nothing left.

No movements. No noise. Not even the bats remained.

Just the insects.

* * *

The family congregated in the courtyard as the sun set. Although anyone calling this group of beings a family had to be incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid. Possibly both. Klaus stood, once again, next to the bar, a crystal tumbler of scotch held loosely in his grasp. He stared across the courtyard, grinning at the couple standing next to the staircase.

Jackson stood just behind Hayley, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and his head turned towards the tunnel entrance. No one could miss the tight set of his shoulders, though whether it was in anticipation of the upcoming meeting or because of Klaus' gaze on him was to be decided. Hayley was simply ignoring the father of her child; her arms were crossed, and she leant back against the metal railing, staring down at her boots. She was deep in thought, contemplating the visit to the Bayou earlier.

Hope wasn't in the Compound. It was suggested, surprisingly by Klaus, that she be kept at Marcel's loft for the evening. Jackson had bristled at that, but when Hayley agreed nothing more was said on the subject, and the child was taken away.

Freya and Elijah were both sitting at the long table, the former leaning forward with her crossed arms resting on the table, the latter leaning comfortably back in his chair, one leg resting on the other and a glass resting on his knee. Rebekah stood just behind him, her arms also crossed, tightly across her chest and she bit at her lip. No one spoke; to anyone who wandered in they probably all seemed at ease. In fact, they were all tightly wound, waiting with bated breath for something to happen.

They knew when the sun set; the noise from the streets heightened suddenly. Five minutes went past, then ten. Finally, forty minutes passed before Hayley threw her hands up in the air and let out a huff of indignation. "This is ridiculous. What the hell are we waiting for? A dramatic entrance designed to make Klaus weep with envy?"

Klaus barked out a laugh, tossing back his drink. "The little wolf is right." He grinned at the glare Hayley threw him. "Why are we all standing around waiting for a slip of a girl who _might_ show up." It wasn't a question.

Elijah sighed. "How many times will I have to remind you of your manners this evening Niklaus?"

"Oh at least once every ten minutes or so. You know how bored I get at sit-down like this." He smirked at the look Rebekah gave him.

Elijah merely shook his head. "We are _all_ waiting, because it shows a sign of respect. Also of solidarity. You should have learnt by now that we are more powerful together. And she will turn up."

"You seem very sure of that." Jackson chimed in, ignoring Klaus' snort at his comment.

"She does not seem like the sort of person to lie. I believe she would merely not say anything instead of lie. Believe it or not Niklaus, not everyone finds it difficult to speak the truth."

Klaus laughed again, but his reply was cut short by a sudden gust of wind. The flapping of wings could be heard, and it was only the two witches who were a fraction of a second slower in raising their eyes up; unlike the vampire, wolf and hybrids in the courtyard they had caught the small expenditure of power. A small form appeared at the top of the Compound; an owl, setting down on the roof. It turned its head slowly, watching the group before its eyes settled on Elijah. A weight he had not noticed before seemed to ease from his chest as he stared at the creature, silently marvelling the colours of its feathers as the wingspan extended and the owl took flight again. One beat of its wings lifted the bird up before it swooped silently to the paving slabs in the courtyard. Before it reached ground level the owl shimmered, then dissolved, and suddenly the six of them were staring at the shadowed form of Evangeline.

Despite being warned about her abilities, and having some idea of what to expect, Jackson and Hayley both fought hard to swallow gasps at her transformation. Even though they had seen it the previous evening, Freya, Rebekah and Klaus were all unsettled at the casual display of power. Klaus was glad he had hidden his reaction better than his sisters. Elijah was the only one who did not react; he had seen Evangeline change her form several times the previous evening and knew to expect anything from her. He climbed slowly to his feet, noting how she shifted slightly backwards when he moved. He raised a hand, palm facing her. "Good evening, Evangeline. I'm glad you could make it."

* * *

Mistake. Mistake mistake mistake. She could feel it almost as soon as she had awoken. She should never have revealed herself. She should never had stayed in the stupid city. She should have never left her homeland. She wanted nothing more than _molanâ_ , to fall apart. To stop existing. Was it too much to ask for? Apparently so. As the sun set Evangeline silently berated herself. She was _kont_. _Oma kont_ , the words whispered in her mind. She was _wäkeva_ , she had _wäke kutni_. She was still learning _wäke kaδa_ , and she would never be _weńća_ ; but her _wäke-sarna_ , both vow and curse, was to never let another become like her. To go through what she had. To suffer like she had. And so Evangeline left the safety of the earth, cleaned her body and took to the skies in flight as soon as the sun had set. She was no coward. Not anymore.

* * *

\- _\- - - - molanâ - to crumble; to fall apart. - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - kont – warrior - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - oma – old; ancient - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - wäke kaδa - steadfastness. - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - - wäke kutni – endurance - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - wäke-sarna -vow; curse; blessing (literally: power words) - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - wäkeva - powerful. - - - - -_

\- _\- - - - - weńća - complete; whole. - - - - -_

* * *

The courage she had gathered on the flight into the city fled the second she touched down on the roof of the building they were in. The beings who reminded her of one thing, but said they were another. The beings she had attacked the previous night. The ones who wanted answers. Of course in fairness she wanted answers too, but there were more of them and only one of her. Before she could dwell on her thoughts any longer though their heads had snapped up, almost in synchronisation, to stare at her. A sliver of unease ran through her; they knew it was her? Well the familiar one would, _Elijah_ her mind whispered. She thanked the heavens she was still in the form of an owl because that whisper made her feel…uncomfortable? Why, she didn't know.

Before she could lose what little dignity she had left, Evangeline lifted herself up and swooped silently down to the ground. As she reached the paved courtyard she shifted her form; her clothing was reminiscent to what she had worn the previous night, but this time her coat was longer, slightly brushing the floor and the hood was larger, covering her head and casting her face into shadows. She also took care to stand in the shadows, away from the centre of the courtyard, and the others occupying it.

Evangeline was wary of the two unfamiliar faces, but no one seemed to be commenting on their presence, so she said nothing; a part of her was constantly aware of them though, of every move, every breath they took and every sound they made. She recognised the two women; pale, fair-haired Freya and the darker skinned Rebekah. Both of them held immense power, Evangeline could practically see it dripping from them, along with the faint, shimmering waves connecting them to each other, and the others. They _were_ a family, even if Rebekah looked nothing like the others. She also identified the strange male, the one she had attacked the previous rising, the…hybrid. Niklaus. She fought the instinctive reaction as she registered again the mixed blood flowing through his body, reminding herself he was not the _Sange Rau_. He was something different. Something she needed to know more about.

Despite taking all of this in, her eyes never left the man sitting at the head of the table, a glass of amber liquid held loosely by a strong hand. It was instinctual to step back when he brought himself up to his feet, the tense set of her shoulders fading slightly as he raised a hand up, indicating peace.

"Good evening, Evangeline."

His voice washed over her, and she inclined her head ever so slightly.

"I'm glad you could make it."

He did sound sincere, she admitted to herself. Fully aware that she was going to have to talk at some point, sooner seemed better rather than later. "I was not sure I was going to come."

"Exactly what I said." The…hybrid scoffed. She turned her head just slightly, her dark eyes glinting in the lights. She caught his gaze and held it.

"I normally do not rise two nights in a row. My body takes longer to…recover, then it normally would."

Klaus smirked at her answer, refusing the acknowledge the slight chill that ran down his spine from the look in her eyes. He was saved from making another sarcastic retort by his brother. "You said rise. You don't…you sleep?"

There was a noticeable pause before Evangeline tilted her head slightly in response. "I…it is called the sleep of my people. To anyone else…I have been told it appears as if I am dead." She could see the question marks on their faces, so elaborated slightly. "We…I shut down my heart and lungs. My heart stops beating, my lungs stop taking and expelling air. I lie in the earth, shielded from the sun. I am guessing, from your reactions, this is not what you do."

She had seen the instant shock on their faces as she had spoken, and revulsion on many when she spoke of being underground. But she had to make certain. It was Elijah who answered. "No. Vampires do not sleep underground. Nor do we sleep in coffins. In fact, we sleep very little, only when the occasion calls for it."

Evangeline nodded slightly. Rebekah piped up with the next question. "Why do you need to be hidden from the sun?"

Before she could reply Elijah raised his voice. "As you can see, we all have questions. Would you take a seat? I feel we may be a while." He gestured to the table behind him. Evangeline hesitated, weighing the pros and cons in her mind. There were more of them, but she trusted she was faster than any of them. Yes two of them had power, but when had that ever managed to stop her? Forcing her mind away from _that_ particular thought, she inclined her head again slightly before walking slowly over to the table.

As she moved she became aware of the two standing towards the back of the courtyard stepping forward, and of the…Niklaus…also moving closer to her. She didn't stop though, and sank gracefully into the chair Elijah had pulled out for her. There was another brief pause before she also lowered her hood, allowing those around her to see her face clearly. It was only then that she answered the question.

"Because it affects me. It affects all of my people, weakening us, draining our strength. It is also harmful; the sun will burn our skin and eventually kill us if we are not protected. Clothing offers a little protection, as do special glasses for our eyes. Shelter from buildings can also help, but we are safest when we are beneath the earth." She turned to looked at Elijah, who had reclaimed his seat at the table. "And what of you? Does the sun not affect you?"

Elijah nodded. "Yes it does. The rays can burn us. But we are protected by wearing these." He held up his left hand and Evangeline saw the ring on his middle finger. "It's not the ring so much that protects us; rather the spell that is laid on it. If I were to be outside and the ring taken off of me, I would die."

Evangeline nodded; she could feel the power woven through the piece of jewellery. She turned her head to Niklaus. "And what about you? You don't have any magical accessories on you."

Klaus raised an eyebrow and grinned at her. "Well love, that would be giving away all of our secrets now." Elijah shifted slightly in his chair and exhaled slightly. Klaus rolled his eyes. "Which my dearest brother is oh so subtly reminding me that that is what we do now. No love, I do not have any 'magical accessory'. I'm the hybrid. The sun does not affect werewolves and those genes protect the parts of me that are vampire. The sun, nor the moon, affects me."

And so they went back and forth, the Originals exchanging information about their world with Evangeline who in turn told them about her world. She was deliberately vague on her background, though she could see that the dark-skinned woman was itching to ask. Both sides had found that there was another world neither had none nothing about. In time the conversation had turned to why Evangeline had come to New Orleans. She found out that Elijah had told his siblings about their encounter in the forest, along with what he had witnessed in the Quarter. She had felt a little uncomfortable about that, but what could she do; they needed this information.

"I came here…well it wasn't really planned. I had to leave my homeland. It had become…stifling. I didn't have a destination in mind. I'm not sure my people have even noticed that I've left yet. And I never had a particular destination in mind; settling in the forests here was on a whim. It was isolated, and meant that I would not be disturbed by others or disturb anyone else. I did not know at the time of the wolf packs who reside near the swamps. The night Elijah saw me was the first time I had been in the city; I do not need to feed as often as my people do. If I had not, I probably would not have run into the rogue. It was partly why I thought you were the _Sange Rau_ Niklaus; Lycans rarely travel on their own, even those who become rogues. He had somehow become aware of the Lycans…sorry, werewolves, in your world and was recruiting them. He was attempting to create an army to wipe out the Lycan communities in Russia."

She sighed heavily, pushing a hand through her hair. "If he had succeeded, he would have then been able to attack my people. We…the Carpathians would retaliate against any threat to the Lycans; several of my people are integrated into the Lycan world."

"But you killed him. So what is the problem now?" Freya asked the question. She had been fascinated by what Evangeline was telling them; a whole world none of them knew anything about.

"As I said, Lycans do not travel alone. He claimed to be the only one in this land but I do not know whether to believe him. If another rogue is here, or worse a _Sange Rau_ , it will mean trouble for all involved. He came from the north; that's where I need to be. I may have left my people but I still have a duty to protect those against these creatures."

Klaus snorted. "Christ, she sounds just like you Elijah. Always out to protect the innocent."

"Because I have the capability to do so. It is within my power to protect humanity against the evils that are out there, no matter what those monsters may be. It's not an ego thing. I will not let what happened to me happen to others."

"What did happen to you?" Rebekah finally asked the one question she had wanted to ask all evening. Even Elijah looked interested; she hadn't told him anything about her personal past when they were in the Bayou.

The withdrawal was visible. She didn't physically draw back, but her posture slumped ever so slightly, and the silent confidence she seemed to wear like a second skin dulled a little. There was a brief pause before she answered. "That is not relevant to the conversation. What is relevant is that beings from my world who are out to incite terror and seize power have begun to interact with your world. If this escalates, hunters from both the Lycan communities and the Carpathians will pick up on it. They will come here. You struggled to deal with just me last night. How do you think you would stand against a group of beings like me?"

Silence followed her question. Eventually Evangeline broke that silence. "I don't want that to happen. I chose to settle here because none of my kind are nearby. I had no idea there were beings like you in this world; none of my people have ever mentioned coming across another kind of vampire before. You're lucky you haven't attracted any attention yet. You need to think about whether or not you want them to know about you."

"Not going to scurry off and report all you know then?" Klaus was starting to get snarky now. Who was this woman to tell them what to do?

Evangeline's eyes flashed slightly, but Elijah was willing to bet he was the only one who had noticed. His gaze had hardly strayed from the woman sitting just down the table from him all evening. "No. You don't need to know why, but I won't go…scurrying off. If you want to reveal yourselves then it's up to you. I can't, nor will I, make that decision for you."

Klaus didn't look convinced, but Freya shot him a look telling him to shut up. It was Hayley who spoke up next. She and Jackson had been silent throughout the information exchange, until now. "The Crescents have told the same story. Someone from an unknown pack has been trying to recruit them for the past couple of months, but they refused to leave." She turned her gaze to Evangeline. "How do you expect us to believe everything you've said though. You just turn up, out of the blue, claiming to be from a different species, and with no prior knowledge of what's being going on here. How do we know you're not a part of it? That this isn't just some ploy to get us under your control?"

The Carpathian turned to stare at the young hybrid. She recognised the power that ran through Niklaus and had recognised from one look that she hadn't been half-vampire, half-wolf for very long. And she didn't need to use any of the gifts her blood gave her to know the young woman was feeling conflicted, cautious and suspicious about the stranger in their midst. It was written clear as day on her face. What could she say in response? "I am no Vampire. I do not seek to have anyone 'under my control' as you put it. It is not…to take someone's free will away from them, to have them do things they would not otherwise…" She broke off, taking a deep breath before continuing. "You do not have to worry about whether I am here to 'control' you or not. My visit here this evening is merely me fulfilling my word to you from the last rising. I will be leaving to trace the rogue's path in the north on the next rising."

She had risen to her feet and was preparing to leave when Klaus' laughter split the air. "And now she runs away. Topic getting a little uncomfortable for you love?"

Elijah closed his eyes in silent resignation. When? When would his brother learn to keep his mouth shut?

* * *

The Bayou was silent. Well, compared to the never-ending noise of the city it was. Barely any wind and few animals roaming nearby made it practically silent. And it was exceedingly appreciated. Especially after the…confrontation.

She never should have gone. Evangeline realised she was saying that a lot to herself at the moment. But it was true. So many of her actions recently had been impulsive, and she was a creature who was never impulsive. That only lead to a quicker death. Something that idiotic hybrid found out only too well a few hours later.

Evangeline had left after the little demonstration of her power. It had been stupid. Childish even. She was no fledging; words should not have such power over her anymore. And yet…it felt instinctual.

She closed her eyes in silent shame. It was becoming harder and harder to separate those basic instincts and the _civilized_ part of her mind. The lines were blurring more and more with each rising. More often than not she was struggling to recognise herself. It was why she had left the safety of her people, her own kind, because she could not trust her actions anymore. She could not trust herself.

And now she had shown exactly why. She had reacted to a simple comment. A snide one yes, one that had been intended to rile her up, but no one could have predicted just how badly she would take it. How intense her retaliation would be. Not even she could have predicted what she had done.

Only intervention from his siblings had saved him. Her mind had blanked out completely and she had only been brought back to reality once again by the free-flowing blood of his elder brother. This time she had unconsciously registered the scent, and realised she was crouched over the bleeding, half-conscious form of the hybrid. Her hands were covered in his blood and she could only guess what the destruction around her was like.

She hadn't looked up. Didn't cast her gaze about her. She had simply closed her eyes in resignation, and before those near her could move she had dissolved, escaping the residence and fleeing back to the forests that had become her home. She had travelled deeper into the Bayou, straying as far away from all human settlements as she possibly could.

Now she stood at the edge of a river, her head hanging in shame, her hands still covered in blood. It would take merely a thought to clean them, but she knew that even then they would still be covered. This was something she could never wash away. This was who she was now. Unpredictable. Dangerous.

A monster.

If only her people could see her now. She was no Carpathian. She was no better than the _hän ku tuulmahl elidet._ She didn't deserve life anymore. She was too damaged. Too broken.

Caught up in her inner turmoil Evangeline didn't register the eyes watching her. Didn't catch the waves of hostility. It was only the snapping of a twig that caught her attention. It was followed by leaves rustling and she turned slowly, her blood-covered hands dropping to her sides, waiting to lay on eyes on the one who had followed her. She already knew who it was; had scanned their mind briefly and recognised it instantly. He came into view a moment later, brushing a fallen leaf from his shoulder and staring at her. She turned away before she could register the look in his eyes, not wanting to see the condemnation.

The two of them remained silent for a while, he watching her, she staring blindly at the water. Eventually he moved, walked forward to stand next to her at the water's edge. He hesitated before speaking softly. "I don't blame you."

She flinched, at the sound of his voice rather than his words. There was another pause before she replied. "Why not. You should do."

He shrugged. "You didn't do anything more than he deserved. I love my brother but sometimes he is a complete and utter idiot. And needs to be reminded that he is _not_ the centre of the universe."

Silence followed his statement and he sighed. "Stop beating yourself up Evangeline." She reacted to that, slightly. Her head tilted a little and her eyes drifted in his direction. "I recognise the signs. I used to look like that a lot as well." He snorted slightly. "Honestly I think I still do occasionally. But I've learnt that blaming myself doesn't get me anywhere. You acted. You can't go back and change your actions. You can only deal with it, and move on."

He turned his head to look at his companion, taking in the slumped set of her shoulders. Silently he cursed his brother. Klaus had a big mouth on him and hadn't thought before opening it. He didn't know himself the extent of Evangeline's past; they hadn't known each other long enough for that. But something was warning him that it was bad; he knew she was powerful, had seen it, and to see the woman who was so confident of herself when fighting reduced to a being that was almost twitching at every shadow was…disconcerting.

"It's not what he said." Her voice was so quiet, a mere whisper of a sound, that he struggled to hear it. His forehead creased in confusion. "What do you mean?"

She was looking back down at her hands. "What your brother said, that wasn't…that doesn't upset me." She hesitated before rephrasing. "It angered me. That was why I…" She sighed heavily, closing her eyes. "It's what _I_ did. I should have just walked away. Left. But some-something happened to me, a long time ago now. And it changed me. Not in a good way."

Her eyes flew open when she felt his hands come to rest on her arms and she looked up at him, almost hesitantly. "You think you're the only one to suffer from anger issues? Trust me, you're not. You should have seen the state of the Compound after my brother and I had _talked_ last night."

Evangeline forced a small smile. "I don't think you can say what I just did is because of anger issues. I lost myself." She saw the confusion in his eyes. "I heard his comment, about me feeling uncomfortable. The next thing I registered was your blood. Then I realised that I was crouched above his body, my hand buried in his chest and curled around his heart. I have no idea of what happened in between. I could have killed him; all of you. The same happened last night. It's like a switch, something I cannot control." She let her head drop and turned slightly away from him. "Another reason why I left my homeland. My people. They tried to help me, but no one can."

"I don't think that's quite true." The sentence shocked him, but it stopped Evangeline from trying to break away from his grasp. "You stopped both times. You reacted…to me. My blood. Why?"

Evangeline bit her lip. "I don't know. Maybe…maybe because I could recognise the scent of your blood. My body recognised it unconsciously? Maybe my mind registers that you are injured."

"But why me?" he persisted. If this was the trigger to helping her, he would do everything in his power. Why? God knows. But he felt that he had to help her.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Nothing like this has happened to me before…well, that I know of anyway. I don't really remember much of my past." She sighed quietly before looking up at him. "Either way, it's too dangerous for me to be here. I should leave."

He shook his head. "No. You said you've been running, and that you decided to make this place your home. So make it your home. Ignore my brother; I nearly always do. And I will help you work on your…self-control."

Evangeline blinked, shocked by his words. "Y-you would do that? Why?"

She received a small shrug. "Honestly, I do not know. But something is drawing me to you, Evangeline Daratrazanoff. When I'm around you, something inside me…I guess you could compare it to the ache of an old wound…it eases." Her face paled slightly at his words, but she remained silent as he continues. "I feel as if I have known you for a long time, that you running into me in the Quarter the other day was not the first time we met."

Her breath caught in her lungs, but before Evangeline could find the strength to speak past the lump in her throat the earth erupted at their feet. A withered hand wrapped around an ankle, serrated talons digging into the flesh, and Elijah Mikaelson was suddenly dragged beneath the ground.

* * *

Carpathian Translations:

 _Hän ku tuulmahl elidet_ \- life-stealer (term for vampire)

And as a reminder:

 _\- - - - molanâ -_ to crumble; to fall apart _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - kont –_ warrior _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - oma –_ old; ancient _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - wäke kaδa -_ steadfastness _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - - wäke kutni –_ endurance _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - wäke-sarna -_ vow; curse; blessing (literally: power words) _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - wäkeva -_ powerful _\- - - - -_

 _\- - - - - weńća -_ complete; whole _\- - - - -_


End file.
